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Billionaire heiress sues for £1m after trip on doomed Titan sub was cancelled when five people died in tragic implosion
A BILLIONAIRE heiress is suing for £1million after her planned trip on the ill-fated Titan submersible was axed.
Karen Lo spent £680,000 to go on the once-in-a-lifetime trip to see the wreckage of the Titanic.
Her original voyage on the OceanGate Titan craft was cancelled in 2018 after the vessel was struck by lightning so she was given a priority booking.
But in June 2023, the sub imploded during a dive to the wreck – killing all five passengers, including OceanGate founder Stockton Rush.
Karen is now suing Henry Cookson, who organised the trip through his ultra-luxury adventure travel company Cookson’s Adventures, for £1million.
The Hong Kong heiress, who is worth around £758million, is locked in a court battle in London to get her original £680,000 back – plus eight per cent interest.
She claims the Holland Park-based Henry Cookson Adventures Ltd should be held responsible for the trip.
However, Mr Cookson’s company is embroiled in the court row, arguing that the heiress was aware of its no-refund policy and that she had a chance to go on the expedition but chose not to.
The former safari guide and polar explorer runs Cookson’s Adventures, an ultra-luxury travel company offering bespoke trips that often cost millions of pounds.
His career has involved many high-flying individuals with his website even boasting how he previously guided Prince Harry to the North Pole.
Papers lodged with London’s High court describe how Mr Cookson had previously been “on friendly personal terms” with Ms Lo, even attending her wedding, and had organised trips worth “tens of millions of US dollars” for her and her guests.
Her barrister Jack Harding states in court papers: “The defendant agreed to organise and supply a two-week expedition for the claimant and 17 others to visit the wreck of the Titanic between 30th June and 14th July 2018.
“The defendant’s supplier for the expedition was OceanGate, a company which, at the material time, specialised in the provision of crewed submersibles for tourism, research and exploration.”
Having paid around £670,000 up front for the trip in May 2018, an email was sent by Cookson Adventure to Ms Lo explaining that the mission had been cancelled because the Titan craft had been struck by lightning and its electronic systems damaged.
The contract “provided ‘clients’ with 100% credit toward 2019 Titanic dives or any other expedition offered by OceanGate” due to the cancellation, but “OceanGate did not carry out any further dives to the Titanic wreck in 2019 or 2020,” he said.
“The claimant, through her agents and legal representatives, subsequently requested repayment of the sums paid under the contract. The defendant has refused to refund any of the claimant’s money.”
Ms Lo is suing under the Package Travel Regulations 1992, arguing it was an express or implied term of the contract that the dive would take place within a “reasonable time.”
“In repudiatory breach of the aforementioned express and/or implied terms, the Titanic Expedition did not take place in 2018 or at all,” he says.
“As a result of the defendant’s breach of contract, the claimant was entitled to and did elect to treat the contract as at an end.
“As a result of the matters set out above, the claimant seeks damages for her wasted expenditure in entering into a contract which was never performed.
“The defendant was enriched, at the expense of the claimant, by the payment and receipt of her money. It is irrelevant that the defendant may have subsequently passed some or all of the money to its own supplier.
“The claimant did not receive any benefit from the money that she paid to the claimant and/or the defendant did not provide any service of benefit to the claimant.”
In defence of the company, Henk Soede denies the heiress is owed even a penny.
He said: “She was introduced to Mr Cookson through a personal friend in 2011-12 and has been using the defendant’s services since then, in every case for exclusive unique and tailor-made trips at very high cost.
“For example, in 2018/19, after the postponed dive voyage to which this claim relates, the defendant arranged and the claimant paid in full for a multi-million dollar trip to the Antarctic on three yachts, including the super-yacht purchased in the name of the claimant the year previously, with twin helicopters and two submersibles, for a total of 13 guests and four nannies.
“The claimant’s annual budget with the defendant ran into tens of missions of US dollars.
“The claimant and Mr Cookson were on friendly personal terms and Mr Cookson had attended her wedding in Rome and accompanied a number of her friends who traveled with the couple to Egypt as part of their honeymoon.
“At no stage did the defendant agree to ‘organise and supply’ an expedition for the claimant and her guests to visit the wreck of The Titanic,” the lawyer states, insisting that Mr Cookson’s company instead had an “affiliate agreement” to be a booking agent for some of the planned trips, with OceanGate remaining the “organiser”.
The contract had also contained a no-refund clause, with the agreement being that a credit towards a future voyage with priority booking rights be provided instead if the mission did not go ahead for technical reasons.
“The defendant disputes this claim because, in outline, the Package Travel Regulations 1992 do not apply because the holiday was neither sold nor offered to be sold in the UK,” he says.
“Alternatively, even if the regulations did apply, the claimant would not be entitled to a refund as the package was not cancelled but only postponed, in accordance with the agreed terms.
“Nor in any event would the defendant be liable to refund monies paid to it, which, as the claimant was well aware, had been passed on to the party providing the voyage, which was also, if the regulations applied, the organiser.
“The claimant did not take up the credit within a reasonable time and thereby waived or lost her entitlement. Further, by notifying the defendant that she did not intend on using the credit in the future, the claimant terminated the contract and/or cancelled the voyage.
“Alternatively, the contract was in any event frustrated as a result of the complete loss of the dive vessel in 2023 and the resulting cessation of the provider’s trading activities.”
The lawyer states that whilst no dives took place in 2019 and Covid restrictions stopped any missions in 2020, dives took place in 2021 and 2022 which Ms Lo could have joined using her credit, prior to the ill-fated final mission in 2023.
“At all material times, OceanGate acknowledged that the defendant was entitled to a credit for un-taken 2018 missions,” he says.
“However, the claimant made clear that she did not want to use her credit in 2019 or at any time in the future.”
Her solicitors had instead demanded a refund in June 2019, he said.
The case, unless settled, will come before a judge in court at a later date.
How the Titan tragedy occured
THE Titan submersible was the first privately-owned submersible with a claimed maximum depth of 4,000 metres.
It was the first completed crewed submersible with a hull constructed of titanium and carbon fiber composite materials.
After testing with dives to its maximum intended depth in 2018 and 2019, the original composite hull of Titan developed fatigue damage and was replaced by 2021.
In that year, OceanGate began transporting paying customers to the wreck of the Titanic, completing several dives to the wreck site in 2021 and 2022.
During the submersible’s first 2023 expedition, it imploded during the crew’s descent to the wreckage of Titanic, about 320 nautical miles (590 km) south-southeast off the coast of Newfoundland.
The submersible was carrying tourists Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman Dawood, crew member and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate founder and the vessel’s pilot, Stockton Rush.
Inside millionaire Pixie Curtis, 13, lavish life with 5-star trips & designer gear as she enjoys childhood empire riches
PIXIE Curtis made so much money as a child that she was able to retire in 2023 at just 11-years-old.
The entrepreneur, now 13, shot to fame as a kid thanks to her fidget spinner and hair bow businesses, as well as her social media presence – all masterminded by her mum.
She is the daughter of PR guru Roxy Jacenko, 45, who set up the brands before Pixie could even walk.
Roxy famously said that her daughter could “retire at 15” if she wanted to – but it turns out the teen was able to do so four years before that.
Now with her business boots hung up, Pixie spends her days as a young lady of luxury on enviable trips and wearing designer clobber.
It comes as Roxy shared a “rare but cute appearance” of her daughter on Instagram, as the duo holiday at the world’s most ultra-luxury experiential beach resort – Atlantis The Royal in Dubai.
They are joined by Pixie’s younger brother Hunter, 10.
The family have dined at globally-renowned restaurant Nobu while in the UAE, as well as celeb-loved eatery Sexy Fish.
This grandeur is something kid millionaire Pixie is used to.
In January, she holidayed at French Alps ski resort Courchevel, hitting the slopes with £300 Moncler ski goggles while wearing a £1,200 leopard print Goldbergh set.
A recent snap to her Instagram page shows her relaxing on a pool float in Singapore while wearing a £130 Jacquemus sun hat.
In July 2023, Pixie’s family, originally from Sydney, Aus, moved to Singapore.
But recent posts to Roxy’s personal Instagram page suggest they have returned down under.
The Curtis-Jacenko crew moved due to dad Oliver Curtis’ work, with Roxy selling off a number of her businesses and luxury cars in the lead-up.
Their new home was complete with a state-of-the-art gym and modern outdoor swimming pool with double day beds.
Shortly after upping sticks, Pixie jetted off to Vietnam and stayed in the Four Seasons Resort in Hội An with her mum, brother and friend.
A Three Bedroom Beach-Front Pool Villa at the hotel, which would’ve slept the party-of-four, costs an eye-watering £3,764 a night.
Come June, she headed to the Maldives to stay in a £1,850-a-night villa at the five star Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi resort.
She toured mainland Europe with her parents and brother during the summer.
Among the countries she visited were France, Italy and Greece, taxing trips on yachts and sometimes flying via private jet.
Why did Pixie retire?
Pixie decided to call time on her entrepreneurial journey in 2023 after finding it was driving a rift between her and her mum.
The teen also admitted that it was impacting her focus at school.
The mum-and-daughter duo launched toy business Pixie’s Fidgets in May 2021 – and in the first 48 hours, they had completely sold out.
The company reportedly turned over £105,000 in its first month.
Hair accessory business Pixie’s Bows is as old as the CEO herself after Roxy established the brand in her daughter’s name when she was just a baby.
But the business schedule caused conflict between the pair, with Roxy allegedly getting annoyed if Pixie didn’t want to create content after school.
The young millionaire divulged that she was “worn out” juggling so many plates and was “happy to focus on her school work and have some time out”.
During her retirement, she was eyeing up adding a Range Rover to her luxury car collection, despite being years off the legal driving age.
Hugely popular kids’ dinosaur toy sold on Amazon urgently recalled over ‘serious risk’ of choking as parents warned
A TRENDY children’s dinosaur toy which is sold on Amazon has been urgently recalled over a “serious” choking hazard.
The blue and pink 3D printed toy was mislabelled and a small child could choke on a small part.
The Togetdream 3D Printed Dinosaur Toy “presents a serious risk of choking as it is supplied with a small part, and is inappropriately labelled”, the notice said.
It comes in a skeleton building kit, with an extra bone that is placed in the mouth.
But a child aged under 36 months could put the bone in their mouth and choke.
It retails for £7.99 on Amazon, but the recall notice said the toy – from China – is now being rejected on the border.
The dinosaur skeleton figure boasts of having an “incredibly realistic design” that captures the “intricate details of a dinosaur’s skeleton structure and provides a real experience for adults and children”.
Parents have been warned to stop their children playing with the toy if they bought it.
The Office for Product Safety and Standards also issued a recall notice for a Waxing and Polishing Machine on the same day.
It poses a “serious risk of fire and electric shock” and is being rejected at the British border.
This was also manufactured in China.
The Waxing and Polishing Machine listing reads: “The product presents a serious risk of electric shock as the transformer was of a poor build quality and did not meet the requirements for creepage and clearance.
“The product features poor quality connections with wires soldered directly to component tails in a high vibration environment.
“The plug face also did not meet the dimensional requirements of BS 1363 because the distance from the outside edge to the live pin measured too small.”
It comes after parents were warned to check their children’s toys after Costco issued an urgent warning.
The children’s gardening set contained lead, which could cause “kidney and brain damage”.
Parents were told to take it away from their kids immediately.
The Stanley Jr Wheelbarrow and a seven-piece Garden Set had a notice for urgent recall due to “excess concentrations of migratable lead.”
Officials from the Office for Product Safety revealed that the yellow paint on both the hoe and handles contained dangerous levels of lead.
A spokesperson for the OPSS said: “The product presents a serious chemical risk as the yellow paint on the handle of the long hoe was found to contain 800 ± 12mg/kg of migratable lead and the yellow paint on the handle of the long rake was found to contain 210 ± 4mg/kg of migratable lead.
“Exposure to lead may cause a wide range of adverse effects, including damage to the kidneys, the circulatory system, and the developing brain. The unborn child and young children are the most sensitive to lead.
“The product does not meet the requirements of the Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011.”
The recall statement read: “This recall is for the long handle rake and hoe included in the Stanley Jr. Kids Wheelbarrow and 7-piece Garden Set sold exclusively at Costco.
“The set can be identified by SKU SGH021-08-SY and Costco Item Number 1662178.
“To check if your product is part of this recall, look for a sticker on the bottom of the wheelbarrow indicating it is from batch number 12/2023.
“All other components in the set, including the wheelbarrow and short handle tools are safe to use.”
Last month, Home Bargains also urgently warned parents about thousands of toys over a “serious” health risk.
The Easter-themed buy has been taken off the shelves at all Home Bargains with the retailer offering full refunds to those who purchased it.
Home Bargains issued the recall for its Happy Easter Plush Toys due to a serious risk of asphyxiation.
The OPSS warned that the products present a significant safety hazard.
Asphyxiation, which refers to a deficiency of oxygen in the body, in this case relates to choking.
The plush toys have been found to have weak seams that can easily come apart.
This could potentially expose the internal fibrous stuffing material, creating a “serious risk” for young children who may place it in their mouths.
“The limbs of the toy can become easily detached due to the weakness of the seams,” the OPSS explained.
The plush toys, which were made in China, measure 25 centimetres in length.
They come in three Easter designs: Yellow Chick, Pink Rabbit, and White Rabbit.
What is a product recall?
PRODUCT recalls are an important means of protecting consumers from dangerous goods.
Many safety notices for products are issued as a precautionary measure, letting consumers know an item may be dangerous.
In more serious cases, manufacturers or retailers issue a recall, warning customers not to use the product and asking them to return it.
As a general rule, if a recall involves a branded product, the manufacturer would usually have lead responsibility for the recall action.
But it’s often left up to retailers to notify customers when products could put them at risk.
A company will sometimes issue a recall to limit the number of complaints.
Parents-of-22 Sue and Noel Radford slammed for ‘unsafe’ Ikea hack in bedroom of youngest daughters Bonnie, 6 & Heidie, 5
SUE and Noel Radford have found themselves targeted once again, after sharing a look inside their youngest daughters’ new bedroom.
The parents-of-22 have been switching around their Morecambe mansion to ensure their brood have as much of their own space as possible.
They recently took on the challenge of redoing the room shared by six-year-old Bonnie and Heidie, five.
And in a video on Facebook, proud dad Noel took the camera around for a vlog inside the room, after revealing he and Sue had finished the room transformation that afternoon.
As his daughter Heidie ran into the room, she decided to climb onto her bed, with Noel saying: “Show everybody how you get on your bed then!”
Once she was on the bed, Noel added: “It’s easy peasy when you’re tiny, isn’t it!”
However, viewers of the video were quick to note that Heidie hadn’t actually climbed up a ladder to get onto the bed.
Instead, she’d used the IKEA Kallax units at the end of the bed to stand on – a concept that caused controversy in the comments section.
“I would buy a small ladder,” one wrote.
“I don’t think it’s safe to climb up a cupboard – especially if she goes to the bathroom during the night and she’s half asleep.”
“The Kallax might be safe as a base but wouldn’t suggest that they use it to climb on,” another added.
“Sorry I usually love what you do for your kids but this time unfortunately I think you have totally misjudged it.”
“Nope, definitely not misjudged it!” Noel replied.
“They love it!”
“They’re not to be used as a ladder,” a third wrote, ignoring Noel’s remark.
“It looks cute but none of it is safe for a young child!”
“Should there not be a ladder for her to get on the bed?”someone else said.
“It’s very nice but getting in and out that way doesn’t seem like a good idea once the girls start storing toys and books on the shelving!” another added.
Q&A with Sue and Noel Radford
With 22 kids, Sue and Noel have learnt a lot over the years.
Who is the stricter parent? Sue
Who is the naughtiest child? Archie
Do you prefer being parents or grandparents? Grandparents, you can spoil them more, and give them back at the end of the day!
What’s one thing you can’t teach your kids? Driving lessons, don’t even attempt to do them with your kids, it’s not worth it.
What’s something you’ve never told your children? We’ve never sat down with any of the kids and told them ‘this is how babies are made’. We’ve never had that conversation.
What’s your best parenting hack? Turn chores into games – making them fun to get them involved and help out.
How do you manage arguments and disagreements? There’s always someone falling out with someone else. When they get older, they have their own own opinions, and arguments get heated and last longer. We try to listen to them both, be the reasonable one, and get them to see it from both sides.
However, others defended Sue and Noel, with one writing: “I’m sure Noel and Sue know what they are doing and don’t need busybodies interfering people telling them how to bring up their children.”
“What is wrong with people?” another raged.
“Why can’t, just for once, a video be put up and it’s kind comments, instead of people nit picking and scrutinising what’s around etc.
“I’m sure Sue and Noel has enough kids to know what’s OK and what’s not right for THEIR FAMILY.“
“What a lovely room! I especially love the bed. You are very creative,” a third commented.
“Excellent work!”
And when other commenters took issue with the fact that Bonnie and Heidie are sharing a double bed, there were those who posted about their own experiences sharing with siblings – or referenced their own kids.
“My girls 5 & 7 share a double bed, they’re best friends and sleep so much better together,” one said.
“Separately they’re up several times a night between them.
“They find comfort in one another – beautiful room for your girls.”
Another issue that was raised in the comments of the Facebook video was that there appeared to be black mould on the window in the girls’ room.
And while people were left furious and worried for the girls’ health after spotting it, others insisted it’s actually moss growing on the outside of the house, and nothing to worry about.
Shocking moment cyclist Mathieu van der Poel has bottle thrown at face as he fumes ‘this is attempted manslaughter’
CYCLING star Mathieu van der Poel has claimed there “has to be a trial” after he was hit in the face by a water bottle in the Paris-Roubaix.
The 30-year-old Alpecin–Deceuninck rider claimed the incident was “attempted manslaughter” in a furious post-race interview.
Van der Poel won a third consecutive Paris-Roubaix to equal the record set by Octave Lapize and Francesco Moser back in 1980.
But what should have been a day of celebration for the Belgian was marred by a flying water bottle thrown by a spectator around 33km from the finish.
Van der Poel was hit square in the face by the bottle and was left seething with the incident after his finish.
He told Sporza: “We can’t let this pass. It was a full bidon, and it hurt a lot. If I take that bidon on my nose, it’s broken.
“Hopefully, the police can identify the man because there has to be a trial for this.
“This is attempted manslaughter. If the UCI doesn’t take action, then we will do it with the team.”
He later hinted that his team could take legal action against the spectator in his post-race press conference.
“It doesn’t destroy the fun I had, but it’s not normal,” he added.
“It was a full bottle, maybe half a kilogram, and I’m riding at 50kph. It was really like a stone hitting my face.
“It’s not acceptable. When they throw beer, it’s also not acceptable, but that’s a different story. This is really something we have to take legal action against.”
Now less than 24 hours after the incident, a man has reportedly handed himself in to the Belgian authorities admitting to throwing the bottle.
The identity of the individual has not been made public.
Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Philip Roodhooft called on people to give the fans “as little attention as possible” when they cause issues like this.
He said: “These kinds of people don’t deserve that. We will first see if the authorities can identify someone.
“But we shouldn’t give it too much attention when you see how many tens of thousands of people do appreciate what Mathieu and others are achieving here.”
While former British road cyclist Adam Blythe labelled the spectators involved as “scumbags” on TNT Sports‘ coverage of the race.
He slammed: “Just scumbags. I can’t believe someone is doing this. It’s just beyond belief.
“Good news is it didn’t affect him – but yeah, disgusting. Just do one. Don’t bother coming out.”
Shocking moment fisherman hauls up giant 22ft SHARK after ‘accidentally’ netting beast at Spanish port
THIS is the jaw-dropping moment a massive shark was accidentally caught by fisherman in Spain.
The 22ft beast was hauled out of the water in the country’s north-eastern Catalonia region.
Basking sharks are listed as a protected species by authorities.
It meant the startled fisherman had to alert the area’s marine life foundation – CRAM – once he realised what he had caught.
He brought it ashore to Port de la Selva – about two hours drive northeast of Barcelona – where experts found out it was a female shark.
CRAM made clear the capture was accidental and that the fisherman had “immediately” alerted them.
A video showing the heart-stopping moment it reached dry land has been shared widely on social media.
The clip, seen more than 150,000 times on X, shows onlookers crowded around the vast creature as it is brought to shore.
What appears to be a fishing net can be seen tangled around the shark’s tail fins.
The shark had entered the fisherman’s net and got “coiled tighter” as it tried to escape, sources told Europa Press.
It was dead by the time it reached port.
The fisherman had followed all protocols, the source added.
CRAM researchers have taken samples from the shark to find out more about her.
Basking sharks are the second largest type of fish in the world – and the largest found in the Mediterranean Sea.
The whopping creatures can often be spotted swimming around the coast of England.
Despite their huge size and intimidating wide mouth, basking sharks are not aggressive towards humans and mostly feed off plankton.
The incident comes after another terrifying shark catch in North Carolina, where seven fishermen had to wrestle a great white shark back into the water.
It took them 35 minutes after catching the beast before they were able to release it.
The fisherman who shared the footage said: “It’s breathtaking seeing a 12-to-13-foot, 1,400-to-1,800-pound animal jump out of the water on the hook set.
“There have been a few great whites caught in North Carolina. None of them have been as big as that one.”
Great white sharks are considerably more dangerous to humans than basking sharks despite their smaller size.
However, the chances of being seriously hurt in a shark attack are low.
Just 47 people being injured in unprovoked shark attacks in 2024, the lowest level in nearly 30 years.
Basking shark facts
