‘Fake holiday sickness’ case to be heard in criminal court
Members of a Liverpool family will attend a Crown Court trial to defend charges they falsely claimed £52,000 from Thomas Cook by filing fake holiday sickness claims.
It is believed to be the first time a holiday sickness claim has been heard in a criminal court.
At a preliminary hearing, Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard Deborah Briton, 53, and her partner Paul Roberts, 43, submitted bogus compensation claims for themselves and their two children for two all-inclusive holidays in Majorca.
The court also heard another daughter of Briton, Charlene, aged 30, submitted a false claim for herself and her young daughter for one of the holidays.
Prosecutor Sam Brown said that in total their claims amounted to £52,000.
The claims, submitted by David Norman Solicitors, were for food poisoning.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud.
District judge Andrew Shaw told them he will send the case to Crown Court for trial and that the allegations represented a ‘sophisticated fraud with relatively high value of money claimed’.
The case was adjourned until a pre-trial hearing on August 10 and the defendants were given unconditional bail.
If found guilty they could face between 18 months and six years in jail, according to the Daily Mail.
Last week, Thomas Cook won a case in the County Court against a couple, Michael McIntyre and Julie Lavelle, who had attempted to sue Thomas Cook for £10,000 after claiming they and their children had fallen in.
The judge called them ‘fundamentally dishonest’ and ordered them to pay nearly £4,000 in costs.
After the case, Thomas Cook said it would be the first of several it intended to fight in the courts.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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