Thomas Cook donates payout from children's death in Corfu after parents hit out

Thomas Cook has donated to charity the compensation it received after two children were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Greece.

The travel company said it had received £1.5 million in 2013 and 2014 as part of a settlement with hotel owner Louis Group in connection with the deaths of Bobby and Christi Shepherd in Corfu in 2006.

The children's parents Neil Shepherd and Sharon Wood had earlier criticised the company, following weekend reports that it had received a higher sum.

Wood told the Mail on Sunday: "It seems our children's lives are worth only a fraction of Thomas Cook's reputation."

The pair received about £350,000 in compensation each after a seven-year legal battle.

In a statement released today, 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.”

“Today I have made arrangements for the full amount – £1.5million - to be donated in full to Unicef, the world’s leading children’s organisation.

“I believe this is the right thing to do and I apologise to the family for all they have gone through.”

Last week an inquest jury found that the children, from near Wakefield, were unlawfully killed, ruled that Thomas Cook had breached its duty of care.

It was determined that the children were overcome by fumes from a faulty boiler.

Their father and his now wife Ruth were left in a coma but later recovered.

At a 2010 trial in Greece three people, all staff at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel, were found guilty of manslaughter.