Specialist Industrial Disease Lawyers At Law Firm Irwin Mitchell Secure Five-Figure Settlement For Family
The daughter of a former Hull dock worker, who also served as a Royal Navy gunner during the Second World War, says she feels ‘justice has been done’ after lawyers secured a five-figure settlement from her father’s former employers following his death from an industrial disease.John Raymond Carter, a father-of-two from Bilton Grange, East Hull in Hull died in November 2011, aged 91, after a long battle with illness. An inquest later confirmed that he died of asbestosis, a disease caused by exposure to asbestos.
Devastated by her loss, daughter Jacqueline Hall, who gave up work to care for her father in the last three years of his life when he moved to live with her in Coxhoe, Durham, instructed industrial disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate whether more could have been done to protect her father and limit his exposure to the deadly material while working on the docks.
Asbestos experts as Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office have now secured an undisclosed five-figure settlement for Jacqueline from her father’s previous employers Gillyott & Scott Limited which includes sums to cover her loss of earnings and provide financial security.
John, a dock worker at Gillyott & Scott in the 1960s and 70s, helped to load and unload sacks of asbestos from cargo ships at the King George, Albert and Victoria Docks in Hull. He often loaded and unloaded hessian bags which were filled with blue and grey asbestos, which was confirmed to be the cause of his asbestosis.
Isobel Lovett, a specialist industrial disease lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Newcastle office, who represented Jacqueline, said:
Jacqueline, 55, said: “My dad was my life and I spent all of my time with him, I did everything for him for the last three years of his life. I am delighted that we finally have justice for him and that those who failed to protect him for asbestos exposure have been held to account.
“It was so hard to see him suffer in the final months of his life when simply getting up in the morning and getting dressed would leave him exhausted. It was also heartbreaking to see him lose interest in football, as I always remembered him being a passionate armchair manager.
“No amount of money will ever replace the loss of my dad, and since his death I have been determined to honour his name so I am hugely relieved that this settlement has been achieved.
“Hopefully, this settlement will highlight to employers the need to protect people from exposure to asbestos, so other families do not have to go through what we have.”
If you or a loved one has been affected by an asbestos related illness, our solicitors can help you to claim compensation. See our Asbestos Claims page for more information.