Wirral holiday bug liars jailed as judge warns fraudsters: Expect the same

Paul Roberts and Deborah Briton are the first people to be prosecuted over bogus sickness claims, which they lodged with travel agent, Thomas Cook.

Paul Roberts, who was sentenced to 15 months, cried and shook in the dock throughout the hearing (Peter Byrne/PA)

Roberts and Briton pretended two annual family vacations to their favourite resort in Majorca ended with them suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting.

But unfortunately for them Briton's Facebook posts revealed they had actually the times of their lives - and made no mention of any sickness.

Liverpool Crown Court today heard the scam could have cost Thomas Cook £19,958 in damages and £28,000 in legal costs.

Roberts was jailed for 15 months and Briton for nine months.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, told 43-year-old Roberts and Briton, 53, who sobbed in the dock "a message had to go out" that such frauds would result in prison sentences.

"You thought it would be easy and you thought it would be easy money.

"Those who may be temped in the future to make a dishonest claim in relation to fake holiday sickness, if they are investigated and brought to justice, whatever the circumstances of an individual, he or she must expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence."

He pointed out: "There has been an explosion in gastric illness claims in relation to those from this country who holiday abroad.

"It has a considerable detrimental impact on all UK holiday travel industries, it has an impact on the reputation that those who are on holiday abroad are perceived and it has an impact on all those who wish to travel abroad honestly and legitimately by the increase in holiday prices."

The judge told the sobbing couple they once had "two weeks of sun, laughter and fun", but Briton now "held your head in shame" while Roberts was "shaking".

"Both of you made representations to Thomas Cook that were a complete and utter sham.

"They were bogus from start to finish. They were totally and utterly fake.

"It required planning, it required thought and it must have required premeditation, with pure greed, seeking to get something for nothing."

Roberts, of Urmston Road, Wallasey and Briton, of Oxton Road, Wallasey went on all-inclusive holidays to Globales América in Cales de Mallorca in June 2015 and June the next year.

Sam Brown, prosecuting, said they claimed against the holiday firm in August last year for damages citing "severe gastric illness", on behalf of themselves and their children, aged 13 and 14.

He said both knew they "would be lying" in support of the fake claims, made through a solicitors firm, in letters, forms and questionnaires.

They pretended to have suffered "diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever, lethargy and nausea" which "ruined" their holidays two years in a row.

However, the judge heard the staff at the hotel, which had no problems with food hygiene as alleged, had treated them like family members.

They had never received any complaints and one worker who had befriended the pair messaged Briton on Facebook to ask "if it was a fraud".

Briton told her it was "Paul with his dodgy dealings" who was in debt and had been told by someone they could exploit a legal loophole, adding: "I can't apologise enough."

But in later messages she repeated the lies, saying she had "panicked" when she said "fraud" and now claiming they had in fact been ill.

Facebook posts and photo albums then revealed Briton had talked of being "safely home after two weeks of sun, laughter and fun" and the following year of a "fantastic holiday".

Even when Thomas Cook told them it would not be paying out in March, they persisted with the claims until June.

The couple initially denied any wrongdoing and were set to stand trial alongside Deborah's daughter, Charlene Briton, 30, of Oxton Road, Wallasey next spring.

But after the couple admitted two offences of fraud each relating to eight false statements, the prosecution agreed to drop the allegations against Charlene.

Defence barrister Lloyd Morgan, said the unemployed mum-of-four was "utterly ashamed" of the "dishonour and disgrace" she had brought on her family.

He said she was the sole carer for her two youngest children, who are on medication for eczema, requiring regular blood tests and the youngest is having assessments for ADHD.

Judge Aubrey said she lied to the author of a pre-sentence report by claiming she and Roberts merely exaggerated, not faked, their claims.

Mr Morgan accepted her remorse may be viewed with "scepticism" but urged the judge to give her a suspended sentence, pointing out she has no previous convictions.

Charles Lander, defending Roberts, said the "devoted family man" has health difficulties and is now "a broken man".

He accepted "it was his idea", but said unlike others before them, neither Roberts, who has two jobs and works nights in security, nor Briton, gained from the fraud.

Mr Lander said: "It was an idea the defendant formed from speaking to others in a pub.

"He stupidly believed those others who told him he wouldn't be detected.

"How wrong he was."