Wakefield: Inquest on Corfu holiday deaths of children Bobby and Christi Shepherd opens

A family holiday turned to tragedy when two young young children died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Bobby Shepherd, aged six, and his sister Christi, seven, died in the sleep during a stay in a bungalow in the Greek holiday island of Corfu in 2006.

Three people were jailed for seven years over the deaths in 2010 but an inquest in Britain was only opened on 27 April.

The parents of the children were in court in Wakefield, Yorkshire, to hear coroner David Hinchliff say: "What should have been a happy and relaxed half-term break became the most appalling tragedy. The family of these children have waited a long, long time for this day to come."

Bobby and Christi complained of feeling unwell the day before they died at the four-star Corcyra Beach Hotel. Their bodies were discovered by a cleaner, who found parent Neil Shepherd and then-girlfriend Ruth Beatson, who he has since married, in comas.

An investigation found a faulty boiler in the chalet, which had undergone a botched repair, caused deadly carbon monoxide to leak in the air. Compounding the fault, a safety device had been short-circuited on purpose.

Holiday operator Thomas Cook was cleared of any responsibility for the tragedy, which occurred during a holiday costing £2,000.