Blackpool woman launches high court asbestos negligence claim in dad's memory after he was 'let down'
A Blackpool woman has launched a High Court claim for more than £200,000 against her late father’s employers blaming them for the cancer he died from.
Jeanette Dancocks of Watson Road, South Shore claims in papers recently made publicly available at the court in London that her father, who died of asbestos related cancer, was negligently exposed to asbestos by his former bosses.
Peter Kirkman, 82, died from malignant mesothelioma after being exposed to asbestos dust and fibres when he worked in a battery factory and then in a torpedo laboratory say the papers.
Now Mrs Dancocks is suing his former employers, London-based firms 00330983 Ltd and Dagenite Batteries Ltd, for damages accusing them of negligence.
She is suing as the personal representative of the estates of her father and her late mother Elizabeth Kirman.
Mr Kirkman worked for both companies, which are related, at their factories in Clifton near Swinton, Manchester, and Over Hulton, near Bolton, between 1966 and 1987.
The court documents claim that during eight years at the Clifton factory, he could not avoid inhaling asbestos fibres as plumbers and engineers knocked off lagging from pipework running all around the main shopfloor, connected to a furnace-like oven.
Asbestos dust and debris was smashed off onto the floor, and he could see the asbestos dust hanging visibly in the air, according to the claim. He was there as workers dry swept up asbestos and picked up larger pieces of asbestos lagging.
He handled asbestos Bunsen burner mats on a daily basis, and these crumbled around the edges, also exposing him to asbestos, it is claimed.
The companies, whose trading names included Electrical Power Storage, Chloride Industrial Batteries and Chloride Motive Power, negligently exposed him to asbestos by failing to provide proper ventilation or protective equipment and clothing, and exposed him to a risk of lung damage without adequate protection or warning, the claim says.
They also negligently exposed him to asbestos in foreseeable circumstances where he was likely to inhale asbestos dust, and failed to operate a safe system of work, says Mrs Dancocks.
Mr Kirman suffered desperately as a result of the disease, dying on August 3 2022, and losing around eight years of life, the court will hear.
He first suffered symptoms of mesothelioma in February 2021, with shortness of breath followed by chest and back pain, and his condition was diagnosed that July after repeated chest drains and surgery.