Thirteen on holiday fraud charges

Seven people were arrested at Gatwick Airport last year

Thirteen people have appeared in court accused of conspiring to defraud a travel firm of £235,000.

Kent Police said the case followed an operation at Gatwick Airport last year when seven people were arrested by the force's Serious Economic Crime Unit.

The defendants - 12 from Kent and one from London - are charged with conspiring to defraud Thomas Cook.

Officers from Kent and Sussex had received reports of fraud involving holidays booked to Jamaica.

Flight disruption

Three men and four women were arrested at the airport in West Sussex on 20 October.

Thirty-eight other passengers were not allowed to board their scheduled flight that day.

The remaining arrests were also made last year, and all the defendants were charged in April.

One other person remains on bail.

The case at Maidstone Crown Court was adjourned until 14 September when all 13 defendants are due back in court.