Holiday fraudster caught dancing on video after ‘food poisoning’
MAN ORDERED TO PAY £6K COSTS TO TRAVEL FIRM WHEN EX REVEALED ‘GANGNAM STYLE’ FILM
A MAN who wanted £6,000 in compensation after claiming he fell ill on holiday was exposed as fraudster when his ex-girlfriend handed in video footage of him dancing ‘Gangnam style’ by the pool.
Liam Royle made fraudulent sickness claim against Jet2holidays, however when his ex became aware of the deceit she gave compelling evidence to the company, including the video. Now a judge has ruled he must pay the package holiday firm more than £6,000 in costs after his civil action failed.
Royle, 23, from Eccles, claimed he suffered from a gastric illness.
He said he had suffered for five days with stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting, as a result of food poisoning whilst on a weeklong holiday at the Papantonia Hotel Apartments, in Cyprus in August 2015.
However, his ex-partner, who was on holiday with him at the time, was able to provide evidence proving that these claims were a complete fabrication – something she described as ‘astounding’ and ‘wrong.’
But he was found to be fundamentally dishonest by District Judge Iyer at the Civil Justice Centre in Manchester this week.
In Mr Royle’s claim, he said he suffered from ‘personal injury’ and a ‘loss of enjoyment’ on his holiday, including ‘missing meals, excursions, swimming time and other general activities.’ But a dossier of evidence given to Jet2holidays by Mr Royle’s ex was used in court including video footage of Mr Royle dancing to ‘Gangnam Style’ next to the pool on one of the days that he was allegedly ill, as well as photographs taken on the holiday showing Mr Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com Royle swimming in the pool and enjoying the evening entertainment. Despite claiming that he was suffering from gastric illness, the evidence also shows that Mr Royle took a 15-minute taxi ride to Ayia Napa, where he walked around the shops and ate a McDonalds.
District Judge Iyer said: “Even applying the most rigorous test, I cannot avoid the finding that there has been dishonesty in his claim of sickness. A statement of truth was signed by Mr Royle knowing that it contained fundamental lies, and he gave incorrect information to his medical expert, and as a result a claim was issued.”
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays said: “We have worked very hard to tackle the problem of false sickness claims and to protect holidaymakers against the risks of getting involved in such dishonest activity, but unfortunately there is a minority who think that they can get away with it.
“This judgement shows that there are very real consequences to making false sickness claims, and Mr Royle must now pay the price. We would like to thank Mr Royle’s exgirlfriend for her honesty, and although this is an unusual case, anyone making a fake sickness claim should be fully aware that we will robustly investigate and defend any claims that are dishonest or illegitimate.”