Engineer wins £400k asbestos compensation claim
A ROCHDALE man who was exposed to asbestos when he was just 15-years-old has won a £400,000 compensation claim after he contracted terminal lung cancer.
David Smith, 56, had been working as an apprentice electrical engineer when he was exposed to the deadly substance while working for Alstom Energy. He worked for the company from 1968 to 1980, using cable ducting that was insulated with asbestos.
He decided to bring a compensation claim after he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an incurable cancer caused by asbestos, which often kills sufferers within months.
Mr Smith, who is married with three sons and has two grandchildren, was forced to close his own street light maintenance business, which employed two people, after he become too ill to work in 2007.
Mr Smith said he brought the compensation claim in order to secure his family’s future.
He said that the compensation claim would not make him well again. “I would rather have my health and be working. I had no idea back then that what we were working with could be so dangerous.”
Joanne Candlish, from Thompson’s Solicitors, who represented Mr Smith, said the compensation claim took into account the losses caused as a result of being forced to close down the business. “It was his wish that the compensation was secured in his lifetime,” she added.