FAMILIES SUE OVER TUNISIA MASSACRE
Furious relatives vow to take action after travel giant spied on Facebook page of victim’s husband to discredit him
of the Tunisia terrorism victims vowed to sue travel giant Tui last night as it emerged that the firm spied on a grieving husband’s Facebook page in an attempt to dodge the blame. Relatives have launched a multi-million-pound compensation bid against the tour operator for failing to ensure the safety of their loved ones and not informing them of terrorism risks in the North African country.
Tui, the parent company of travel agent Thomson, was accused of burying Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) travel advice warning that further attacks were possible following a fatal shooting at a museum three months earlier.
As the six-week inquest ended into the 30 British victims of the massacre by an Islamic State gunman in the beach resort of Sousse in June 2015, it can be revealed that:
Fanatic Seifeddine Rezgui, 23, carried out the attack at the fivestar Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel because it was an ‘easy target’;
It had the fewest CCTV cameras of all nearby hotels and had just three security guards on duty on the day of the attack – one of whom was really the man who supplied the cushions on the beach;
The coroner attacked the ‘shambolic’ and ‘cowardly’ police response, saying officers ‘deliberately’ took too long to reach the scene; All three ‘guards’ ran away. In an astonishing move, lawyers for Tui snooped on social media to disprove one victim’s testimony that he did not know about the FCO advice.
James Windass, 66, whose wife Claire, 54, was shot dead next to him on his 65th birthday, said he would never have booked the holiday if the company had warned him of the dangers of terrorism.
He told the inquest he did not see any links to the FCO advice on the Thomson website, adding: ‘If it had been put to me that there was a possible terrorist situation I would not have gone. End of story.’
But lawyers from Tui trawled through his Facebook account and dredged up a post from 2012 in an attempt to discredit his evidence.
Howard Stevens QC, for the travel firm, tried to suggest that Mr Windass must have known about the FCO website because he was a member of a Facebook group called ‘Cycle 66’ in which it was mentioned. It was a page set up to celebrate Mr Windass’ 2,500-mile cycle along Route 66 in the US in 2012, during which he was robbed.
Mr Stevens asked him: ‘I don’t know whether you will remember this... but on August 25, 2012, you posted this: “If anybody has any experience of obtaining emergency travel documents and dealing with stolen passports in the US then any advice would be appreciated.” ’ Mr Stevens said a Facebook user later commented on the post and referred him to the Foreign Office’s website. But Mr Windass told the court the post had actually been made by his son so he never saw it.
Tui dropped its prices by up to 30 per cent following the attack on the Bardo Museum in the Tunisian capital and ‘pushed’ holidays to the country, according to Paul Thompson and his wife Zoe, who were in Sousse at the time of the attack.
Mr Thompson told the inquest that when his wife mentioned Bardo to a Thomson travel agent, they were told it was a ‘one- off ’ and Tunisia was ‘100 per cent safe’.
The coroner, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith, said the only reference Tui made to FCO travel advice in a brochure was in the visa section – and no visa was required for Tunisia. He also read at length from a ‘crib sheet’ produced two days after the Bardo attack for Thomson sales staff. In it, Tui advised staff to tell holidaymakers: ‘Tunisia remains a popular destination for us and customers are enjoying their holidays as normal.’
Judge Loraine-Smith criticised
Tunisia was ‘100 per cent safe’ ‘Questions are left unanswered’
the crib sheet, saying: ‘Firstly it does not give any details of the [Bardo] attack. Secondly, it does not mention terrorism. And thirdly, although it refers to FCO advice, it doesn’t give any guidance as to where it’s going to be found.
‘A number of witnesses have given evidence that they were told that Tunisia was safe. That evidence has been disputed by Tui. But a number of customers would not have gone to Tunisia had they seen the FCO advice.’
The inquest heard in 2013 a suicide bomber blew himself up in Sousse and a terror cell was caught in the area. That year alone, 1,347 people were tried for terrorism. In 2014, another cell was discovered.
Andrew Ritchie QC, representing 20 of the families, said Tui ‘neglected’ to take any steps to improve security at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel after the Bardo attack. Staff had no training in responding to terror attacks and one actually opened the door to the administration area where customers were hiding, allowing Rezgui in.
Kylie Hutchison, from law firm Irwin Mitchell, which represents 22 families, said: ‘On behalf of clients who lost members of their family and those who suffered injuries, we will now be preparing civil proceedings against Tui.’
Yesterday Cheryl Stollery, wife of John Stollery, 58, a former paratrooper who was shot dead next to her as they tried to flee, said: ‘Questions have been left unanswered and responsibilities have not been accepted, so we are not able to rest or move on.’
During the inquest, Tui denied it had ‘ pushed’ holidays to Tunisia and that its prices were determined by an algorithm. It also maintained that security was the responsibility of the hotels.
Nick Longman, managing director of Tui UK, said yesterday: ‘ What happened in Tunisia shocked and devastated all of us.
‘We have already taken steps to raise awareness of the FCO’s Travel Aware campaign. As an industry we have adapted and we will need to continue to do so.’