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CPS ‘to review case of Corfu deaths’

The Crown Prosecution Service is to review the case of two children who were poisoned by fumes while on holiday in Greece.

The decision follows the verdict of an inquest jury last month that Christi and Bobby Shepherd, aged seven and six, were unlawfully killed in a Corfu hotel in 2006.

An investigation found that their accommodation had a faulty gas water heater and that lethal fumes had escaped into the building.

The jury found that Thomas Cook had breached its duty of care to the children, from Wakefield.

Sharon Wood, the children’s mother, has received a letter from Richard Hebbert, a crown prosecutor, saying: “I have followed proceedings in the coroner’s court and I am aware that the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing. In these circumstances it is my intention to review the case.”

The travel company could face charges under health and safety legislation if any decisions which could have led to the children’s deaths took place in this country, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Two Thomas Cook reps were cleared of manslaughter charges in Greece in 2010. Three hotel workers were convicted.

A Thomas Cook spokesman told The Times that the company fully supported the review by the Crown Prosecution Service, which was “entirely expected”.

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