A man has been jailed for nearly three years in Australia after being found guilty of causing an accident that left an Oxford backpacker brain damaged.

Lucy Keen, of Laburnum Road, Botley, plunged 66ft to the ground after ride attendant Steve Clark failed to properly secure her on a zip line on the Flying Fox.

Riders are hooked into a harness and glide along a rope suspended above the rainforest at Cape Tribulation, in the north of Queensland, as if they are "jungle surfing".

Miss Keen, a former pupil of Matthew Arnold School, Cumnor, was on holiday at the time.

Her parents John and Kathyrn flew out to be at her bedside in Townsville General Hospital, where she was in a coma.

Clark, 43, was hungover and smelt of rum and marijuana on the day of the accident on May 29, 2004, Angus Edwards, prosecuting, told Cairns District Court.

Mr Edwards said: "He failed to strap Miss Keen into the harness properly before launching her from the viewing platform."

Miss Keen, 27, now needs 24-hour care, is unable to talk or walk and will probably never recover from her injuries, added Mr Edwards.

He said Clark - who was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail and must serve at least 16 months after being convicted of grievous bodily harm - had never expressed remorse.

The jury took just one hour to find him guilty.

Miss Keen's parents, who travelled from their home to be at the trial, shouted "yes" and cried and hugged when the verdict was read out.

The Flying Fox ride, which opened in August 2003, had a 100 per cent safety record until the accident.

Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours is run by a group of biological scientists who use the ride to study the flora and fauna of the rainforest it is sited in. They charge £27 an hour for the experience, promising tourists they can "feel like Tarzan or Jane".

Miss Keen was brought up in Oxford and studied at universities in Leicester and Cardiff.