Family Joins With Lawyers To Call On Former Colleagues For Information

The widow of a former lab worker who died at the end of last year just a month after being diagnosed with asbestos-related cancer has joined with specialist lawyers to call on his ex-workmates to help her gain justice regarding his death.

John Grebbell, who was born in Plymouth, passed away in December aged 78 from mesothelioma, the cancer of the lining of the lung commonly associated with exposure to asbestos.

Following his death, his wife Janet, 57, instructed specialist asbestos-related disease lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate how he came to develop the illness and whether more should have been done to protect him from the deadly material.

As part of their ongoing investigations, the legal experts are keen to hear from anyone who worked with John during his time employed by British Petroleum Ltd at the company’s research centre in Sunbury-on-Thames in Middlesex. Before he passed away, John told his family how asbestos was used to lag pipework at the site, where he worked as a lab technician in the early 1960s.

Lucy Andrews, the specialist asbestos lawyer at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office who is representing John’s wife Janet, said: “This case is yet another terrible reminder of the huge consequences that asbestos exposure can have, with the symptoms of mesothelioma only becoming apparent many years after initial contact with the deadly material.

“John’s family are understandably devastated by their loss but remain keen for answers regarding how the illness emerged and whether he could have been better protected. Any information that anyone may have regarding his time working at BP in the early 1960s could ultimately prove invaluable to our legal case.”

John suffered from pleurisy for several years before he began to increasingly struggle with breathlessness when walking from the start of January 2016. He and Janet were seeing their daughter in Verona in October that year when they returned early as he felt unwell. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma shortly afterwards.

Janet, who currently lives in Keighley, West Yorkshire, said: “John was a much-loved father and grandfather and the whole family still miss him so much. We are all simply trying to come to terms with the loss at the moment.

“Whenever the issue of asbestos was raised, he would talk about his time at BP and how lagging was used on pipes in the lab where he worked. The diagnosis of mesothelioma was hugely frustrating for him as he had looked after himself throughout his life. As a result, he was devastated when he fell ill.

“While nothing can change what has happened, we hope that this legal action will provide some closure and give us the answers we feel we deserve regarding how John developed the illness. Any help in our fight for justice would be hugely appreciated.”

Anyone with information which may assist in this case should contact Lucy Andrews at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office on 0113 394 6782 or email lucy.andrews@irwinmitchell.com.