Appeal for Wakefield Council Asbestos Witnesses
Asbestos appeal for refurbishment workers
09/05/2008
A 63-year-old Wakefield widow who is pursuing a claim for compensation on behalf of her husband’s estate, against the Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, is appealing to former employees of the Council who may have worked with asbestos in the course of refurbishing and modernising council houses between 1977 and 1984.
Her husband, Mr Butler was diagnosed with Mesothelioma in February 2006 and believed he was exposed to asbestos dust in the course of his employment as a joiner working for the Council. He sadly passed away as a result of his illness four months later.
Ben Mitchell, industrial injury solicitor at the Leeds office of Irwin Mitchell, the UK’s leading Personal Injury solicitors is representing Mrs Butler and is urging anyone who may be able to assist to come forward.
He said: "Mesothelioma is a devastating form of incurable cancer that is extremely quick and aggressive from the time the symptoms first come on, to the date of death."
"Unfortunately because the disease has such a long incubation period from when someone first ingests asbestos dust to when the disease first surfaces and the subsequent legal claim is made against their past employers, this can cause significant problems. This means that the company may no longer be trading, the premises could have closed down, or the work force might have moved on and so trying to find witnesses can be extremely difficult."
Mr Butler was employed as a joiner for the Council, working on the refurbishing and modernising of Council houses on estates in the Wakefield and Pontefract area. He would frequently come across asbestos materials that were used for guttering and the covering of pipework. He would remove the asbestos with a hammer or wrench, ripping and breaking it apart in the process.
"He was never provided with a facemask or warned that inhaling the asbestos dust and fibres emitted from the removal of the asbestos in that crude manner, could lead to the contraction of such a lethal disease."
Anyone who is able to help should contact Mr Mitchell on 0113 394 6751 or by e-mail at ben.mitchell@irwinmitchell.com