Travel company donates half the compensation payout to UNICEF!

Thomas Cook has donated £1.5m, half the compensation payout it received after the deaths of two British children in Corfu to Unicef charity, the firm has said, after the media storm about the pay outs.

Christi and Bobby Shepherd, from West Yorkshire, died from carbon monoxide poisoning at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in 2006.

An inquest jury ruled they had been unlawfully killed and said Thomas Cook “breached its duty of care”.

The holiday firm was awarded damages against the hotel’s owner in 2010. Thomas Cook claimed its insurers had taken half of the payout for legal costs. It said donating the remainder to Unicef was “the right thing to do”.

Group chief executive officer Peter Fankhauser said: “Thomas Cook has not in any way profited from our claim against the hotel owner.

“In late 2012, we brought a claim against the hotelier for breaching their contract to provide safe accommodation to our customers and to comply with all applicable laws, which was decided in our favour.