Asbestos In Armley -The Fight Goes On
John Battle has given a glimmer of hope
to hundreds of people claiming compensation for contracting deadly cancer
from an asbestos factory.The claimants - many of them suffering the incurable
and untreatable lung cancer mesothelioma - have been left in distress
after the American firm which owns the company responsible for the factory
declared itself bankrupt.
Compensation cheques to victims who have won their claims have bounced,
court cases have been frozen and no new claims can be taken out.But now
John Battle is meeting solicitors representing claimants, who are victims
of the J W Roberts asbestos factory, which was in Armley Leeds. He plans
to raise their case in the House of Commons and with insurance underwriters.
The J W Roberts asbestos factory closed in 1958 but left a deadly legacy
among its workforce, their families and people who lived nearby.They breathed
in tiny asbestos particles which cause the incurable cancer mesothelioma.
The illness can take 50 years to show itself and is usually diagnosed
only in its final stages.
Armley resident June Hancock was diagnosed with the disease in 1994, she sued the firm's owner Turner and Newall and lived just long enough to win her three-year court battle for compensation. Mrs Hancock died soon after receiving £65,000 in compensation, but her determination paved the way for hundreds more claims from victims.
Former Armley residents from as far away as Australia launched claims.
Hundreds are still in the pipeline.
Turner and Newall was later taken over by US-based firm Federal Mogul.
Federal Mogul faces thousands of claims from asbestos victims in the States
and has now declared itself bankrupt under their weight. It has used US
legislation known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy to "ringfence" its
assets and continue trading while unable to meet the claims.
John Battle was due to meet solicitor Adrian Budgen today."As far as I am concerned the campaign which June Hancock led is not over," said John Battle. "I am meeting Adrian Budgen, I am approaching the insurance underwriters and if necessary I will be asking the Government to help."It is wrong for the people who have made so much money out of those who worked in the industry to run away from their resposiblities."