Corfu deaths: parents not received 'disgraceful' Thomas Cook apology

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/17/corfu-deaths-parents-thomas-cook-apology

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The parents of the two children who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Corfu said they have still not received an apology from the travel company Thomas Cook, and denounced the move as a “disgraceful” public relations exercise.

The apology was reportedly sent by Thomas Cook’s chief executive, Peter Frankhauser, two days before it was revealed that the company received £3.5m in compensation from the owners of the hotel in Corfu where the tragedy occurred in 2006.

Christianne and Robert Shepherd, who were on holiday with their father and his partner, were overcome by fumes from a decrepit boiler.

Sharon Wood and Neil Shepherd said in a statement on Sunday that they had not received the travel company’s letter, and had only been shown it by reporters. “It is disgraceful that after all we’ve been through Thomas Cook are still putting us last in the equation.

“We haven’t had this so-called letter of apology. We have been shown it by the press and feel it is an appalling continuation of Thomas Cook’s PR exercise. It’s not an apology for their wrong doing but a general offer of sympathy.

“It does not address the central issue that their safety management system failed and it does not apologise for that.”

A spokesman for Thomas Cook said the letter had been sent. He said: “We can confirm that Peter sent a letter to the family on Friday where he did say sorry to them. We are not in a position to share any further details regarding this correspondence at this time.”

The Mail on Sunday reported that Thomas Cook had claimed compensation for the time spent by its employees, including special media advisers, in dealing with the incident, and loss of profits including cancelled bookings.

The parents told the Mail on Sunday that only about a tenth of that amount had been passed on to each of them. They had had to remortgage their homes and pay for their own flights and accommodation to follow the legal proceedings in Greece, and only won legal aid for the inquest after lobbying the prime minister. The family said on Sunday that their dire financial situation had forced them to accept the deal before the damning inquest verdict.

In a statement on Sunday, the travel company said: “Everyone at Thomas Cook was shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Robert and Christianne Shepherd in 2006. Thomas Cook recognises that the pain caused by this terrible accident will never go away and must be still very hard for friends and family to bear.”

The statement did not confirm the amount, but acknowledged that the firm had received a sum “that partly compensated for the costs related to the incident”.

Last Wednesday, an inquest jury in Wakefield, Yorkshire, returned a verdict of unlawful killing of the two children, and that Thomas Cook breached its duty of care for them.

“Thomas Cook said they offered our family practical and financial support – this is simply not true”, Wood said outside the coroner’s court. “While we appreciate there were criminal convictions in Corfu, it is clear that Thomas Cook could and should have identified that lethal boiler. Thomas Cook put Christi and Bobby in that bungalow, and I will always hold Thomas Cook responsible for their deaths.”

The children were spending a half-term break at the Louis Corcyra Beach hotel with their father and his then partner, now wife, Ruth Beatson. A chambermaid found the children dead and the adults unconscious, poisoned by carbon monoxide from a faulty hot water boiler housed in an outbuilding attached to their bungalow.

Several former Thomas Cook employees appeared at the two-week inquest, but exercised their legal right not to answer questions. The criminal trial in Corfu in 2010 found three employees of the hotel guilty of manslaughter.

The statement from Thomas Cook said: “The Greek authorities launched a thorough criminal investigation in 2010 which found three of the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel employees guilty of manslaughter; that investigation cleared Thomas Cook’s employees of any wrongdoing. The coroner had directed the jury that the only conclusion to reach was unlawful killing as legally it had to be consistent with the Greek verdicts.”

“The systems which were in place in 2006, which were intended to prevent such a tragedy, have since been thoroughly revised and address the criticisms made by the jury. Thomas Cook works with dedicated specialist external health and safety experts to audit holiday properties. The health and safety of our customers is of paramount importance and we continuously review and strive to improve all our procedures.”