Thomas Cook chief executive apologises to family over Corfu tragedy

I have just spoken to the chief executive of Thomas Cook who has told me he is "deeply sorry" for the tragedy in Corfu which saw the deaths of two children aged seven and six.

After days of controversy when the company seemed unable to find its human side under layers of corporate speak and legal defences, Peter Fankhauser has now apologised to the family.

He said that the matter had not been handled well by the company since 2006 when the two children - Bobby and Christi Shepherd - were poisoned by a faulty gas boiler during a Thomas Cook holiday to the Greek island.

The family of the children have described the behaviour of the company as "appalling" and there have been calls to boycott Thomas Cook.

"First I want to say that I am deeply sorry about the tragic death of Bobby and Christi Shepherd in 2006," Mr Fankhauser told me.

"From the deepest of my heart I am sorry.

"It is clear that there are things that we as a company could have done better in the past nine years.

"In particular, the way we conducted our relationship with the family and this is something that we are going to change.

"We could have done better in the past, we are sorry for that. We are going to try and help them move on with their lives.

"We did not handle our relationship with the family well. During the past nine years we failed to show the compassion that we should have shown to the family. That is probably the main mistake."

Christianne Shepherd, seven, and her brother Robert, six, died from carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu in 2006

Words 'poorly chosen'

I am told that Mr Fankhauser will now offer to meet the children's parents, Sharon Wood and Neil Shepherd, before deciding what can be done to support the family.

He said that he regrets saying that the holiday company "had nothing to apologise for" during the coroner's inquest into the tragedy.

"My words were poorly chosen and I regret that," he told the BBC.

"The hotel employees were charged with manslaughter and Thomas Cook was cleared in a criminal court in Greece.

"Those were the facts but I'm deeply sorry about the strategy. I'm incredibly sorry the way we treated the family during those nine years, not with the compassion they deserve."

He said he accepted the findings of the coroner's inquest which found that Thomas Cook had breached its duty of care.

"We accept the findings of the Coroner's court and what the jury found," Mr Fankhauser said.

Thomas Cook donated £1.5m to Unicef after it received the money in insurance compensation.

Mr Fankhauser said the donation was the right thing to do, despite the fact that Thomas Cook did not discuss it with Sharon Wood and Neil Shepherd before acting.

"We believed it was the right thing to do," he said.

"I believe it is the right thing to do to make the lives of many, many children better - and to put the money in the hands of a well reputed, totally neutral company."

I asked him whether Thomas Cook's legal advice had stopped it acting in a human way towards the family.

"I don't want to blame the lawyers," he replied.

"It's ultimately my responsibility how we communicate. Obviously we could have done better."

Some former employees of Thomas Cook refused to answer the most basic questions during the coroner's inquest after legal advice.

"It was their legal right as they are not employees of Thomas Cook anymore," Mr Fankhauser said.

"Those who are still the employees of Thomas Cook gave evidence to the best of the knowledge they could. We could not influence the former employees of Thomas Cook."