-- PRESS RELEASE - 9 MARCH 2011 --

 

Seven Judges at The Supreme Court said two families can keep compensation awarded by the courts for their loved ones deaths.  Both Dianne Willmore and Enid Costello died of mesothelioma, an asbestos cancer, having had small doses of asbestos dust.  Dianne was exposed whilst a pupil at her school and Mrs Costello during her work.

 

The Council and employers accepted they would have been negligent in allowing them to be exposed to asbestos.

 

All seven Law Lords said that the test as to whether or not a person should be compensated should remain as the ‘material contribution’ test and not a ‘doubling of the risk’ test as the Council and employers had suggested.

 

Even though medically, there is no minimum threshold dose of asbestos below which there is no risk of mesothelioma, the Law Lords had been invited to make a decision as to where the legal line should be drawn, what the legal threshold is.

 

This case is important for any persons who have small doses of asbestos exposure and get mesothelioma.  It is also important for those who have had exposure in schools since it is the first case for a pupil.

 

Ruth Davies, Solicitor for Dianne Willmore’s husband Barre says:

 

‘Barre Wilmore is absolutely delighted about the result.  He knows how pleased Dianne was knowing on her deathbed that her family would be provided for. He was relieved that she was unaware of this appeal. The compensation won’t bring Dianne back but will provide some solace.

 

These cases were another attack on asbestos disease victims.  The defendants were trying to change the law that has been working perfectly well for many years so that fewer people who are dying can get properly compensated.’

 

Norman Jones, Solicitor for Enid Costello’s family says:

 

‘The dangers connected with asbestos exposure and the risks of mesothelioma have been known to employers since the early sixties when the Sunday Times made public the hazards of being exposed to asbestos in the workplace.  Employers were left in no doubt of the consequences of exposing their workforce to asbestos after reading this article.  It would be manifestly unfair if the law had been changed to deny victims of one the worst fatal industrial diseases from receiving fair compensation’.

 

Read the Supreme Court Judgment

 

Here is the original report from Channel 4 with Carolann commenting at the end:

http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/display/playlistref/090311/clipid/090311_ASBESTOS_09

 

See BBC report

 

Background

Dianne Willmore   Dianne Willmore was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos related cancer at the end of March 2007 at the age of 46.  She gave evidence at court that she had had exposure to asbestos whilst a pupil at Bowring Comprehensive school in Merseyside.   She remembered Council workmen still being present removing ceiling tiles to re-route cables.  She remembered school mates removing ceiling tiles to put blazers into the ceilings as a prank.  She recalled vandalised stacked tiles in the girls’ toilets. Some of these tiles turned out to contain asbestos.    On 8 and 9 July 2009, Dianne gave evidence at Liverpool High Court.  The Judge found in her favour and awarded her £240,000 less  DWP Benefits.  The Council appealed to the Court of Appeal.   On the 14th October 2010, 3 Judges in the Court of Appeal said that the case should not be overturned. Dianne died the day after the decision was made.

Enid Costello   Enid Costello died aged 74 of mesothelioma in January 2006. She had exposure to asbestos dust whilst working as an office worker at a factory making steel drums between 1964 and 1988. She went into the factory which was at times contaminated with asbestos dust.   Her case was lost at first instance in October 2008 but when her case went to Court of Appeal in November 2009 the three Appeal Judges held in favour of Mrs Costello.   She had not been exposed to asbestos dust during any other employments but she had been exposed to asbestos dust in the general atmosphere.   The employers argued that she had to prove that the asbestos dust that she had from them more than doubled her risk of developing Mesothelioma.

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

 

We are a dedicated personal injury law firm who do not do other types of work.  We specialise in claiming damages for asbestos sufferers. We have been handling compensation claims for industrial disease for over 30 years. Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims who suffer from mesothelioma, lung cancer, asbestosis and pleural thickening. We only act for the sufferers of asbestos diseases and never act for the organisations that caused the asbestos exposure or their insurers. We have an ethical approach and donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  We have set up a charitable trust to help to fund medical research into mesothelioma and various organisations that help and support asbestos sufferers and their families.

 

Find out more about our donations to good causes. We have also been involved in most of the landmark judgments that shape this area of law. Find out more about us or  our reported cases. We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Find out more about what others have said about us.

 

John Pickering and Partners LLP is a niche legal practice that has represented Claimants in the leading asbestos "test cases" in the last ten years. The firm represented Sylvia Barker in Barker v Corus (UK) Plc, a case that highlighted the legal tactics of employers and insurers trying to cut back their compensation liabilities to mesothelioma sufferers, and which prompted the amendment of the Compensation Act 2006 to ensure full compensation for mesothelioma claims. The firm represented two of the three Claimants in the landmark Fairchild appeal, in which the insurance industry tried unsuccessfully to block compensation altogether for mesothelioma sufferers unable to identify which of two or more sources of asbestos exposure had caused their illness.

 

The firm represented Alice Jefferson, a mesothelioma sufferer, whose illness and compensation claim against Cape Asbestos were featured in the important documentary "Alice: A Fight For Life." Shown by Yorkshire Television in July 1982, the programme was an important catalyst for legal change and public awareness of the plight of mesothelioma and other asbestos disease sufferers and a prompt for important legal reform.

 

Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that affects the lining of certain bodily organs. It most commonly affects the lining of the lungs (the pleura) but it can affect other areas including organs in the abdominal cavity (the peritoneum).

 

More than 2,000 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma every year in the UK and there is one mesothelioma death every five hours. The number of deaths from mesothelioma increased from 153 in 1968 to 1,969 in 2004 and is expected to peak at 2,450 between 2011 and 2015. 

 

The first Action Mesothelioma Day was launched on 27th February 2006.  Its objectives were to raise awareness about mesothelioma, to improve the treatment and care of mesothelioma patients, and to lobby for better funding for research into mesothelioma and for the protection and education of people who may be exposed to asbestos.

If you need advice about an asbestos related illness, contact us now for information about making a claim for compensation.

 

Contact us to find out more about your entitlement to claim compensation if you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer or pleural thickening.

 

For more information about asbestos diseases-

www.johnpickering.co.uk

 

For practical information and support concerning mesothelioma-

www.mesothelioma-advice.co.uk

 

For more information about claiming for different types of asbestos disease-

Mesothelioma compensation claims

Lung cancer compensation claims

Asbestosis compensation claims

Pleural thickening compensation claims

 

For more an explanation about different types of asbestos conditions-

Different asbestos conditions