PRESS RELEASE- 19 November 2009

Today the Court of Appeal handed down their written reasons upholding Liverpool High Court’s verdict that Dianne Willmore was negligently exposed to asbestos when she was a child at school in Knowsley.

Dianne was only 49 when she died last month the day after the Court of Appeal heard her case.

Dianne was exposed to asbestos fibres from the age of 11 at Bowring Comprehensive in Knowsley in the 1970’s. 

The Court in Liverpool acknowledged that the council and school authorities knew about the dangers of asbestos and should have taken measures to prevent damage to asbestos.

The Liverpool Court heard of a number of occasions when the exposures may have happened: Asbestos insulation ceiling tiles had been taken down and stacked in a busy corridor whilst electricians worked on the cables in the ceiling void. Bullies took children’s satchels and pencil boxes and hid them above the ceiling tiles. Vandalism occurred in the girls toilets where asbestos ceiling tiles were stacked.

Knowsley Council’s appeal was dismissed unanimously by the Appeal Court Judges, although they considered that the likelihood was that Dianne did not have exposure from the prank of putting up satchels into the roof space since there was no evidence that asbestos was disturbed by that.

Dianne was diagnosed more than two years ago and because her condition was seriously deteriorating the Court dealt with her case speedily. Lord Justice Ward told the Court that they would not delay their ruling because they were aware that Dianne had not long to live. The Court showed great compassion.

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council has indicated that they wished to appeal to The Supreme Court but we shall know whether they are pursuing it further by 26th November.

Dianne was awarded £240,000 in damages, but she wasn’t able to spend it because in the event of the appeal being successful the money would have to be paid back.

Background: Every year, there are more than 2000 cases of mesothelioma in the UK, the exposure in the UK being comparatively high because we imported so much brown asbestos.  The vast majority of those mesotheliomas are caused by exposure to asbestos dust in the workplace. However there are increasing numbers of people like Dianne who develop mesothelioma from slight exposure. Her case succeeded because there was evidence of exposure.

Further information:

Ruth Davies
John Pickering and Partners LLP
20 Clare Road
Halifax
HX1 2HX

Tele: 01422 345535
Fax:  01422 438500
Mob: 07810 502084
Email: rd@johnpickering.co.uk
Website: www.johnpickering.co.uk

Notes

John Pickering and Partners LLP- Specialist mesothelioma compensation solicitors

We are a specialist personal injury law firm.  We have been handling claims for industrial disease for over 30 years.  Most of our work involves acting for asbestos disease victims.

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 pledge to donate 10% of our net profits every year to good causes that help asbestos sufferers.  Click here to find out 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 find out about our reported cases.  We are on the panels of several asbestos support groups and are ranked highly by legal guides.  Click here to 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 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).

According to the British Lung Foundation, 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 British Lung Foundation, supported by John Pickering and Partners LLP, launched the first Action Mesothelioma Day on 27th February 2006, 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 edcation of people working with asbestos.

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

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