Ex-Sainsbury boss Justin King to head Thomas Cook review

Justin King spent 10 years running Sainsbury's

Former Sainsbury's boss Justin King is to lead an independent review into travel company Thomas Cook after two children died on one of its holidays.

Christi and Bobby Shepherd died from carbon monoxide poisoning at a hotel in Corfu 2006.

Mr King will investigate Thomas Cook's "customer health, safety, welfare, relations and crisis management practices".

The company came under fierce criticism over its response to the deaths.

Apologies

A criminal trial held in Greece in 2010 cleared Thomas Cook of any responsibility and awarded the firm damages against the hotel's owner.

But in May this year, an inquest jury ruled that the children had been unlawfully killed and said the tour operator had "breached its duty of care".

Thomas Cook was criticised after it accepted compensation of £3m for lost earnings and legal expenses relating to the tragedy.

It also told the media it had apologised to Christi and Bobby's parents before the parents had received the message from the company.

It later apologised to the family and gave £1.5m to the children's charity Unicef.

Thomas Cook also revealed last month that its former chief executive, Harriet Green, was awarded a bonus worth £5.7m, of which she would donate a third to charities chosen by the children's parents.

Justin King spent 10 years as the head of Sainsbury before leaving the company last year.

He will report his findings to Thomas Cook in September.