A British lesbian mother who landed in Jersey on a rubber dinghy with her two young children will be arrested the moment she leaves the island, it has emerged.

Lauren Etchells, 33, bacteria spent more than three years on the run after she left her wife and fled her home in Vancouver in 2016 to start a new life with their sperm donor. 

The teacher, from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, was given a suspended prison sentence on Monday in St Helier for sailing across the Channel in an inflatable boat.

But now, despite technically being free to leave Jersey, the mother-of-two will be detained by police as soon as she sets foot in the UK or any other European country - after Canada issued a warrant for her arrest on child abduction charges.




Lauren Etchells, 33, pictured in Jersey, went on the run for three years with her two young children after she fled her home in Vancouver, Canada, in 2016, when her marriage collapsed






Etchells (left) fled her home in Canada in 2016 with her daughter Kaydance, then one, and four-week-old son Marcus who she had with her estranged wife, Tasha Brown, 45, (right)





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Canada has issued a Red Notice, requiring countries to detain her at the point of entry. 

Her lawyer Sarah Dale today confirmed that the Canadian authorities are powerless to touch her while she stays in Jersey, which is not a member of Interpol. 

She chose the Jersey for that reason as she planned to use it as a springboard to get back to the UK by sneaking into the country having changed her name.

Etchells ignored a court order when she left Canada with her daughter Kaydance, one, and four-week-old son, Marcus, whom she had with her estranged wife Tasha Brown, 45.  

Ms Brown, who shared joint custody of their daughter, had obtained a court order preventing her wife from leaving the country when their marriage collapsed. 

Etchells disappeared with her parents Brian and Angela and the two children and travelled to Europe with her partner Marco van der Merwe who was the sperm donor for her second child. 





Etchells, a school teacher originally from South Shield, Tyne & Wear, went on the run with the help of her British pensioner parents Brian and Angela Etchells (pictured)





Etchells' parents Brian and Angela, 67, from South Shields, were pictured on the tiny dinghy heading away from Jersey after dropping their daughter off - shortly before being arrested

Police believe she stayed in France, the Netherlands, Middle East before attempting to cross the Channel in a dinghy that experts said was totally unsuitable for ocean going travel.

Etchells was arrested when she landed on a beach in St Helier after being spotted by an off duty coastguard volunteer.

She was convicted of child negligence and given a six-month prison sentence suspended for six months. She was also fined £500 for lying to immigration officials.

Her parents were given the same sentence after being convicted at St Helier Magistrate's Court.

While in Jersey Etchells is not permitted to work as she has to have lived on the island for five years to comply with immigration laws. 

A spokesman for Saanchi Police in Victoria in British Columbia confirmed Etchells is still wanted on child abduction charges.











Etchells, 33, had ignored a court order not to leave Canada obtained by Ms Brown who was concerned her estranged wife would leave the country with the couple's sperm donor

A spokesman said: 'There is still outstanding arrest warrant for Lauren Etchells in Canada in relation to child abduction charges.

‘Authorities in Canada are still supporting the charges as submitted by police and there is a Canada wide warrant for her arrest.

‘As the Interpol Red notice is still in effect, if she leaves Jersey and enters the U.K. she will be arrested.

‘Once that happens a process will begin to extradite her back to Canada. 


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