The two holiday reps on trial over the death of two children in Corfu from carbon monoxide poisoning have been cleared of causing the deaths by negligence.

The Press Association reports that Thomas Cook employees Richard Carson, 28, and Nicola Gibson, 26, of manslaughter by negligence. A total of 11 people went on trial over the children’s deaths, including nine Greek nationals and the hotel manager.

The incident occurred in October 2006, when seven-year-old Christianne Shepherd and her six-year-old brother, Robert, from Wakefield in West Yorkshire were poisoned by gas leaking from a faulty boiler in an outhouse next to their holiday bungalow at the Louis Corcyra Beach Hotel in Gouvia, Corfu.

The children were on a half-term break with their father Neil Shepherd and his partner Ruth Beatson, who were left in a coma for a week but survived.

The court in Corfu found three of those charged guilty of manslaughter by negligence and found another person guilty of breaching building regulations. The retired mechanical engineer who inspected the bungalow – Harry Rodgers – said it was the worst installation he had seen in 50 years. He had told the court there was a ‘catalogue of failings’ in the installation and inspection of the boiler.

Mr Shepherd told the court how his daughter had woken up saying she felt sick and he had gone to fetch a carrier bag for her to vomit into, only to collapse and wake up in hospital to be told his children had died.

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