Three holiday firm employees charged over the death of an 11-year-old British girl in a boating accident were found guilty of negligence by a Greek court yesterday.

Laura Morgan, of Nottinghamshire, drowned on July 31 2003 while on a Sunsail holiday in Paleros, in Greece, when the catamaran she was sailing with friends capsized.

Yesterday judges at the Court of Misdemeanours, in Lefkada, found hotel manager William James Hutton (31), of Dorridge, Solihull, water sports manager Rebecca Jane Morgan (30), of Porchester, near Fareham, and assistant manager Kevin Michael Jones (25), of Chickerell, Weymouth, guilty of negligence in connection with her death.

The three were given 18-month jail sentences suspended for three years.

Two other Sunsail employ-ees, safety boat staff Benjamin Annetts, 39, of Ivybridge, Devon, and Colin Scott Bradley, 28, of Crieff, Perthshire, were found not guilty.

In court earlier, Laura's mother Lynne accused holiday firm staff of not telling the truth about what happened.

She told the court that immediately after Laura's death she was told her daughter had become tangled in the boat's ropes.

Mrs Morgan believes Laura was actually trapped by the harness she was wearing, which was attached to the Hobie catamaran.

She said: "I know that Laura was attached to the boat in the harness and that the boat capsized ... and she could not disentangle herself from the harness."

Mrs Morgan and Laura's father Graham then sat in the public gallery as three instructors told of their desperate attempts to rescue her.

Laura, a novice sailor, and two friends, twins aged 14, had taken to the waves in the catamaran, a dinghy popular with beginners.

But after around 30 minutes on the water, the boat capsized.

Annetts was the first safety boat employee on the scene.

Giving evidence, he said: "When I arrived, the catamaran was on its side and two of the girls were floating in the water."

The twins swam to safety but Laura was unable to free herself.

He told the girl to be calm but at that point the catamaran turned upside down, dragging her under. He immediately dived to her rescue.

He said: "I immediately found Laura struggling, panicking to try to get to the surface.

"I immediately tried to locate the hook and release her and bring her to the surface. I could not release her. She appeared trapped in some other wire.

"Because the visibility was poor and there was lots of struggling and waving around, I could not identify how she was trapped. At that point I had to come back to the surface for air."

Sentencing Hutton and Morgan, Judge John Papaioannidis told the court that the hotel manager and water sports manager had failed to take enough care in ensuring the three girls were supervised by an adult.

Jones, he said, should have been on a boat on the sea keeping a closer eye on the holidaymakers because, as assistant manager, he was responsible for safety at that time.

Mrs Morgan, who travelled to Greece to give evidence in the trial, broke down in tears after the hearing.

Outside court she said: "I am relieved and I am pleased that the truth has come out but I still have a life sentence."

After the hearing, Sunsail representatives said the company intended to appeal against the court's decision.

During the trial, the court heard Hutton was manager at the Club Dounakis hotel where Laura had been staying with her mother, Lynne, and older sister Sarah, now 19.

It was his responsibility to brief his staff on safety procedures for the water sports at the all inclusive resort. He did so, he told the court, according to Royal Yachting Association guidelines.

Morgan was in charge of safety on the beach but on the afternoon Laura died she had left work for the day.