Preston family win five year battle for justice

A Preston family has won its fight for justice after a five and a half year battle to prove that their father was negligently exposed to deadly asbestos dust.

Rowland Hill was 66 years old when he died from mesothelioma, the cancer caused by inhalation of asbestos particles. Soon after he was first diagnosed with the killer disease in 2001, he was alerted to the fact that his employment as an electrician at both British Aerospace and British Nuclear Fuels may be related to his condition.

Working as an electrician at British Aerospace at Warton and Strand Road, Preston, Rowland worked alongside fitters who were replacing asbestos lagging on planes. Stripping off lagging caused large amounts of dust and when the lagging was replaced with new asbestos sheets, the sheets were cut to size with scissors, once again causing considerable amounts of asbestos dust. He also handled aircraft parts which contained asbestos, including the radome (the part of the nose cone which protects radar equipment), which had holes drilled through it to allow wires to be passed through.

NO PROTECTION
Rowland was not provided with any protection against the asbestos dust or warned of its deadly effects. The same was true when he worked briefly at British Nuclear Fuels plant in Solwick, Preston, where once again asbestos was present in lagging being stripped and replaced.

He sought advice through his trade union and saw a firm of solicitors recommended by them. After taking all the details of the case and then taking two years to progress it, during which time Rowland sadly died, the solicitors, Lawfords in Manchester came back with news that they did not think Rowland and his family had a case for compensation. “We were furious,” said Rowland’s son, Peter Hill, who lives in Lea, Preston. “To take so much time and then decide there was no case was difficult to accept. My mum had promised dad that she’d fight on for justice and so together with my brother Martin, we decided to seek help elsewhere.”

LEP TO THE RESCUE
Fortunately for them, the Lancashire Evening Post had recently run a story about how a local man diagnosed with the same asbestos related disease had sought and won compensation from his employer. The case had been handled by Manchester law firm Pannone LLP and this is where the family sought advice.

Patrick Walsh, a Partner at Pannone and a specialist in industrial disease cases took on their case and began to piece together Rowland’s employment history, looking for witnesses who had worked with him and who could testify to the way asbestos was used and the lack of protection provided from it. Said Patrick, “Disappointingly but perhaps understandably a number of people who could have testified were reluctant to do so. Fortunately there were those who were prepared to stand-up and be counted on Rowland’s behalf, including an ex colleague we traced to Germany. With their help we were able to secure a six figure compensation agreement with his former employers.”

COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED
Patrick continued, “Mesothelioma cases are always distressing because of the devastating effect they have on families who lose loved ones, often within a few months of being diagnosed. Many of the cases we see at here at Pannone, like Rowland’s could and should have been avoided if the companies they’d worked for had taken proper measures to protect their employees. I’m just glad we were able to help the Hill family in their pursuit of justice for their father.”

Commented Peter Hill, “Dad was incredibly brave, he never complained despite the fact he knew his condition was terminal. He had thirteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren and I know he was terribly upset at the thought of not seeing the little ones grow up.

“What he wanted towards the end was to see justice done and to show others that may find themselves in a similar position in years to come, that they can fight for and win compensation as long as they seek the proper legal advice.”