Court set for Corfu hotel trial
A court on the Ionian island of Corfu has decided that 13 people will stand trial in connection with the death of two young British children at the Louis Corcyra Beach hotel more than a year ago, sources told Sunday’s Kathimerini. Christianne and Robert Shepherd, aged 7 and 6, died in October 2006 from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty natural gas boiler next to their room. The Corfu misdemeanors court has decided that among those that should stand trial are the president of the company that owns the hotel, the hotel’s managing director, the head of the hotel’s maintenance department, the engineers who installed the gas system and two representatives of British tour operator Thomas Cook. Hotel employees allegedly realized that there was a problem with the boiler the day before the children died but did not fix it as the Shepherd family had already moved into the room. If convicted, the suspects face a maximum of five years in jail on manslaughter charges. Additional charges of causing bodily harm and violating building regulations carry lighter sentences.
