Fake sickness fraudsters exposed by their Facebook posts

Four fake sickness fraudsters from Liverpool have been sentenced to three months in prison, suspended for two years, and fined £750 each after admitting to concocting a claim for gastric illness. 

They have also been ordered to pay legal costs incurred by their tour operator, Jet2holidays.

Michael Jameson (43), Claire Weir (35) Jane Weir (38) and Janet Weir (63), all from Liverpool, were convicted of contempt of court at Liverpool High Court after inventing and submitting a false claim against Jet2Holidays for gastric illness, which could have resulted in them getting a payout of more than £45,000, including solicitor costs.

They stated that they, and the four children they were travelling with, had all suffered for days with nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting, as a result of food poisoning on an all-inclusive week-long holiday at the Aqua Magic Rock Gardens in Benidorm in July 2015.

However, when investigating, Jet2holidays and law firm Horwich Farrelly discovered evidence showing the claims were fabricated.

This evidence included social media posts in which the fraudsters boasted to having ‘had the best holiday ever’, ‘lovely hotel, food’ and ‘didn’t want to come back home’ as well as a social media conversation between two of the claimants saying they ‘loved every minute of it’ and ‘wish I was there now,’

According to medical reports that accompanied the claim, the claimants were still suffering from diarrhoea, stomach pain and cramps when these posts were uploaded.

A series of social media posts and images relating to claimant Michael Jameson enjoying a day out at a cricket club was also used in evidence.

Again, according to medical reports, Jameson was suppposedly still suffering from nausea, diarrhoea, stomach pain and cramps at the time.

Jet2Holidays also relied on records held by the hotel showing consumption of lager, vodka, gin, amaretto and liquor during the time the claimants were allegedly ill

Although the defendants blamed the advice of their previous solicitors, an accusation disputed by the firms involved, all four pleaded guilty at Liverpool High Court .

Justice Choudhury said the evidence against them was "little short of overwhelming" and said such crimes are ‘not victimless as some might think’.

Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy said: "For some time we have warned that making false claims could lead to serious consequences, and this ruling shows how serious they can be.

"It should leave anyone making a fake sickness claim in no doubt – we will robustly investigate and defend any claims that are dishonest or illegitimate – and the courts will not hesitate to punish anyone engaging in such fraud."

David Scott, a fraud partner at Horwich Farrelly, the law firm that investigated the claims on behalf of Jet2, said: "There has been a reported 500% increase in holiday sickness claims since 2013 and we believe that only a very small number of them are genuine.

"Horwich Farrelly has successfully defended almost 3,000 holiday sickness claims in barely two years and many share the same evidence that we saw in this case.

"We are pleased that this family accepted that their claims were fraudulent. They saw this as a way of making some easy money at the expense of honest holidaymakers and they will now pay the price for this stupidity."

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