An inquest into the family tragedy began in Wakefield Coroners' Court and heard that the children from West Yorkshire, who had complained of feeling unwell the day before their bodies were found, died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Commenting on the devastating events, Coroner David Hinchcliff said the children, who were on holiday with their father and his partner, died 'on what should have been a happy half-term break.'
It was established that a safety device on the boiler in the home had been disconnected leading to the death of the two children who were found alongside their father Neil and his partner Ruth, both of whom had slipped into a coma.
Elaborating on the details of the case, engineer Thomas Magner explained that the fume protection device, which had been incorrectly installed, had been disabled which "directly caused the deaths."
According to postmortem tests, the children had fatal levels of carbon monxide in their bloodstreams when they were discovered in October 2006 by a chambermaid.
Speaking on behalf of their childrens' devastated parents and relatives, Mr Hinchcliff reminded the jury that the Shepherd family had been seeking answers for almost a decade, saying: "The family of these children have waited a long, long time for this day to come."
The manager of the hotel, the head of the technical department and an electrician were sentenced to seven years in prison in 2010.
