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A Wallasey couple who claimed nearly £20,000 by lying about suffering food poisoning on holiday were jailed in a landmark case.

Paul Roberts and Deborah Briton are the first people to be prosecuted over such bogus sickness claims, which they lodged with Thomas Cook .

Roberts, 43, and Briton, 53, pretended two annual family trips to their favourite resort in Majorca ended with diarrhoea and vomiting.

But mum-of-four Briton’s gushing Facebook posts revealed they had the time of their lives and made no mention of any sickness.

Liverpool Crown Court today heard the scam could have cost Thomas Cook £19,958 in damages and £28,000 in legal costs.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, told the sobbing pair a “message had to go out” that fraudsters like them should expect to go to prison.

He said: “You thought it would be easy and you thought it would be easy money.

“There has been an explosion in gastric illness claims in relation to those from this country who holiday abroad.

“Those who may be tempted in the future to make a dishonest claim in relation to fake holiday sickness, if they are investigated and brought to justice, whatever the circumstances of an individual, he or she must expect to receive an immediate custodial sentence.”

Roberts, of Urmston Road, and Briton, of Oxton Road, went on all-inclusive holidays to Globales América in Cales de Mallorca in June 2015 and June and July 2016.

Sam Brown, prosecuting, said they claimed against the holiday firm in August last year for damages citing “severe gastric illness”, on behalf of themselves and their children, aged 13 and 14.

Both knew they “would be lying” in support of the claims – made through a solicitors firm – in letters, forms and questionnaires.

They pretended to have suffered “diarrhoea, stomach cramps, fever, lethargy and nausea” which “ruined” their holidays two years in a row.

However, the court heard staff at the hotel, which had no problems with food hygiene, had treated them like family members.

They never received any complaints and one worker who befriended the pair messaged Briton on Facebook to ask “if it was a fraud”.

Briton told her it was debt-ridden “Paul with his dodgy dealings” and thought they could exploit a legal loophole, adding: “I can’t apologise enough.”

But in later messages Briton repeated the lies, saying she “panicked” when she saw “fraud” and now claimed they had been ill.

Facebook posts and photo albums revealed Briton talking of being “safely home after two weeks of sun, laughter and fun” and the next year of a “fantastic holiday”.

Even when the game was up and Thomas Cook told them in March it would not be paying out, they persisted with the claims until June.

Mr Brown said the “first ever” prosecution followed a 500% rise in claims for such damages made against travel companies, the vast majority from UK residents.

The couple denied any wrongdoing and were set to stand trial alongside Deborah’s daughter, Charlene Briton, 30, of Oxton Road, Wallasey.

But after they each admitted two counts of fraud relating to eight false statements, prosecutors agreed to drop the allegations against Charlene.

Lloyd Morgan, defending Briton, said the unemployed mum was “utterly ashamed” of the “dishonour and disgrace” she had brought on her family.

He said she was the sole carer for her two youngest children, who are on medication for eczema, requiring regular blood tests.

Judge Aubrey said she lied to the author of a pre-sentence report by claiming she and Roberts merely exaggerated their claims.

Mr Morgan accepted the judge may view her remorse with “scepticism” but urged him to give her a suspended sentence for the sake of her children.

Charles Lander, defending Roberts, who sat shaking and crying in the dock, said the “devoted family man” with health difficulties was now “a broken man”.

He said unlike others before them, neither Roberts, who had two jobs and worked in security at nights, nor Briton gained from the fraud.

Mr Lander said: “It was an idea the defendant formed from speaking to others in a pub.

“He stupidly believed those others who told him he wouldn’t be detected. How wrong he was.”

Judge Aubrey said the couple once had “two weeks of sun, laughter and fun”, but Briton now “held your head in shame” while Roberts was “shaking”.

He said: “Both of you made representations to Thomas Cook that were a complete and utter sham. They were bogus from start to finish. They were totally and utterly fake.

“It required planning, it required thought and it must have required premeditation, with pure greed, seeking to get something for nothing.”

He said such scams impacted on the UK holiday travel industry, the reputation of honest holidaymakers and led to an increase in holiday prices.

Roberts and Briton sobbed and family members in court wailed as they were jailed for 15 months and nine months respectively.