Policewoman faces losing her job after trying to claim compensation over ‘holiday food poisoning’

Policewoman, 38, faces losing her job after trying to claim compensation over ‘holiday food poisoning’ only to be caught on camera riding a camel on the day she said she was sick

  • Policewoman caught out over fake holiday food poisoning compensation claims
  • PC Katie Miles allegedly fell ill on a holiday to a resort in Sharm-el-Sheik, Eygpt
  • But photos revealed she was remarkably active for a woman supposedly laid low
  • At the very moment she claimed to be poorly, she was riding a camel in Eygpt

A policewoman could lose her job after being caught out trying to claim compensation over a fake bout of holiday food poisoning.

Katie Miles alleged that she had never felt so ill due to the bug and that her husband had to push her in a wheelchair through the airport before the journey home.

But at the very moment PC Miles had claimed to be poorly, she was riding a camel on holiday in Egypt. A judge hearing her compensation claim described her as ‘fundamentally dishonest’.

Katie Miles alleged that she had never felt so ill due to the bug and that her husband had to push her in a wheelchair through the airport before the journey home. But at the very moment PC Miles had claimed to be poorly, she was riding a camel on holiday in Egypt (above)

Miles, who serves in the Nottinghamshire force, had demanded compensation for her alleged sickness from travel firm Thomas Cook – and when the company refused to compensate her, she took it to court for £360.

As part of the case, she was required to hand over evidence from her phone. Photos revealed she was remarkably active for a woman supposedly laid low.

The 38-year-old claimed that after eating lunch on the third day of her break at the Royal Holiday Resort in Sharm-el-Sheik, she began to feel ‘light-headed, shivering with stomach cramps and feeling sick’ and went up to her room.

But Nottingham County Court heard that later that day she went on a desert quad-biking excursion.

Photos showed her smiling on the vehicle, a scarf wrapped around her head, while a video also captured her camel ride. 

And there was a photo of her smiling and enjoying a desert barbecue, even though she claimed she didn’t eat anything there.

Two days later – when she said she was having to use the toilet every 15 to 20 minutes and that her ‘illness’ had sapped her energy – Miles went on an all-day boat trip. 

Other photos from the trip with her husband and two stepsons in May 2015 show her posing at the hotel pool and straddling an inflatable in the water.

The hearing was told that despite Miles claiming that she had never been so ill in her entire life, she did not visit a doctor at the hotel, or contact her GP once she had returned to Britain. 

Miles, who serves in the Nottinghamshire force, had demanded compensation for her alleged sickness from travel firm Thomas Cook – and when the company refused to compensate her, she took it to court for £360. A stock image of a Thomas Cook plane is pictured above

Miles, who serves in the Nottinghamshire force, had demanded compensation for her alleged sickness from travel firm Thomas Cook – and when the company refused to compensate her, she took it to court for £360. A stock image of a Thomas Cook plane is pictured above

In her witness statement, Miles said: ‘I am a serving police officer. I pride myself in my honesty and integrity and they are built deeply into my values as a serving police officer.’

However, Judge Owen QC, found against her and said: ‘The probability is that if the claimant had developed such severe and persistent symptoms, it is highly unlikely she would have ventured on to the desert excursion that evening, let alone mount a camel and be bounced through the desert… That is implausible and unlikely. The same is true in relation to the all-day boat trip.’

He branded her ‘fundamentally dishonest’ and ordered her to pay Thomas Cook’s legal costs of £2,776.

Nottinghamshire’s Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Barber said: ‘Nottinghamshire Police expects the highest standards of honesty and integrity from its officers and, where concerns are reported, those matters will be thoroughly investigated.

‘While no referrals or complaints have been made in relation to this matter to date, we will now work with the courts to understand the circumstances surrounding the case.’

Travel trade body ABTA said: ‘Holiday sickness scams have cost the industry millions of pounds and anyone tempted to launch a fake holiday sickness claim should be aware that it is a form of fraud.

‘The courts take a very dim view of fraudulent claims of this nature.’

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