CHRISTINE BATES (Widow and Executrix of the Estate of Stanley Bates) v International Combustion Riley Limited (1) Paxman Diesels Limited (2) Amec BKW Limited (3)

Settlement on 8 May 2007

Our Client:
Stanley Bates was born on 15 August 1931. In July 2004 he was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He died on 16 december 2004 aged 73 years. He was married to Christine and they were both enjoying their retirement at the time of diagnosis. They had a daughter together and 3 grandchildren.
Mr Bates explained in his statement that he knew that there was not much that could be done to help him. He had been told that he had less than 12 months left to live. He explained that he wanted to make a claim for compensation so he could provide for his wife when he was gone. This was the only reason why he making the claim. Mr Bates provided financial support for his wife and he wanted to know that she would be looked after. He had done all the repairs in the house, tended to the garden and even built a conservatory from scratch.

Christine was the appointed Executrix under the Stanley’s Will. She carried on the claim on behalf of the estate when he died. She also had a claim in her own right because she was a dependant of Stanley.

Asbestos Exposure:
Mr Bates was employed by the 1st Defendants ‘International Combustion Riley Limited’ between 1956 and the tax year 1966/67. He was as an electrical engineer and oil burning specialist. He worked mainly in schools are dairies installing and maintaining combustion equipment. He had to strip out the old equipment first. All the pipes leading in and out of the combustion equipment were lagged with asbestos. He worked alongside laggers who stripped off old asbestos lagging and who used asbestos materials for new lagging. He was present when they mixed asbestos composition with water to make a lagging plaster, which they applied by hand. He also had to strip lagging from pipes himself in order to drill holes in pipes and fit thermostats. He swept up asbestos dust and debris. These processes produced much dust.

From 1966 to 1967 he worked for the 2nd Defendants Paxman Diesels Limited. He was an Electrical Engineer. He came into contact with asbestos in the same way as at International Combustion Riley Limited.
From 1967 to 1968 for about twelve months he worked for the 3rd Defendants Mmec BKW Limited (as successors in title to Babcock & Wilcox (Packaged Boilers) Limited). Again he worked as an Electrical Engineer and was exposed to substantial amounts of asbestos dust when working alongside laggers.  The laggers were removing old asbestos lagging from pipe work in order to carry out repairs or install new equipment. They also mixed up and applied new asbestos lagging to pipe work.

His Illness:
In his statement Mr Bates states that he became unwell at the end of March 2004 when he was on holiday in Scotland. He noticed shortness of breath. He consulted his doctor who found nothing wrong. He was sent for a chest x-ray and understood it showed nothing significant. However his breathlessness worsened and he developed chest pain. He returned to his doctor and was sent for further investigations which eventually led to a diagnosis of mesothelioma. He was told this was an incurable form of cancer and that his life expectancy was likely to be between 6 and 12 months. He described suffering from night sweats, chest pain, difficulty in breathing and a need for assistance from his wife. He suffered mental distress arising from his illness which he knew too be fatal.

The Case:
Court proceedings were issued against the 3 Defendants on 2 October 2006 and the claim was listed for trial on 24 April 2007. The court ordered an interim payment of £47,000 to be paid to the Claimant by 26 February 2007 by the Defendants.  The case was funded by way of a Conditional Fee Agreement.

The Settlement:
The claim settled for £160,000 net of all deductions in full and final settlement of her claim. The case settled a few days before the trial. The Defendants also paid our costs. 

Mrs Bates comment on the case:

‘I am very happy with the service I have received from your firm’.

Paul Glanville
Partner
John Pickering and Partners LLP
20 Clare Road, HALIFAX, HX1 2HX
Tel :      + 44 01422 345535
Fax :     + 44 01422 438500
E-mail : pg@johnpickering.co.uk