Tribute to brave June's battle for justice over asbestos dust

The campaigning work of a Leeds cancer victim who took on the might of a multi-national firm in a fight for justice will continue in her memory at a new centre in Leeds.

The life of June Hancock was recalled at the opening of the centre in Armley, the west Leeds community which was devastated by the activities of the J W Roberts asbestos factory.

The Roberts factory pumped out deadly asbestos dust which covered the community.

Although the factory closed in the 1950s, it left a legacy of asbestos-linked cancers among former workers, their families, and among people who simply lived nearby. Mrs Hancock, like her mother before her, was one of the victims. She contracted mesothelioma, an incurable lung cancer which usually kills its victims within a year of diagnosis.

Mrs Hancock survived for more than three years - just long enough to win a bitter legal battle for compensation against the J W Roberts' parent company Turner Newall.

Her victory opened the doors to compensation claims from thousands of other victims. Former Armley residents living as far away as Australia have launched claims on the basis of Mrs Hancock's struggle.

The factory continues to claim victims, as mesothelioma can take 60 years to show itself.

In January two years ago the Ridings Asbestos Support and Awareness Group was formed in Leeds to give help and advice to victims of asbestos-linked cancers. This week it opened a new office in Armley at which a picture of Mrs Hancock was unveiled by Leeds West Labour MP John Battle, who took the fight for compensation to Parliament

The struggle fought by Mrs Hancock goes on. Turner Newall's own parent company in the United States, Federal Mogul, has declared itself bankrupt in the face of thousands of claims linked to asbestos.

In Britain Turner Newall is also subject to administrators and payment of claims has been frozen. Because of the deadly nature of mesothelioma, many of its victims will die before their claims are settled.

Mr Battle said: "The administrators are engaged in a struggle with the insurance companies who are arguing that asbestos companies were not covered when their workers and people in the neighbourhood were polluted by asbestos. "There are companies playing out the time and using every possible gap in the law to avoid paying out.

"The moral responsibility has been established. The economic liability has been established in law. We are stuck because we cannot enforce legal liability." Between June 2000 to June 2001 there were 1,685 deaths in the UK from mesothelioma.

The Armley office of the Ridings Asbestos Support and Awareness Group at 50B Town Street will be staffed by nurse Mavis Robinson, an expert in caring for mesothelioma sufferers and in providing support for their families.

Nurse Robinson's work and that of the group is funded by donations from a trust set up in Mrs Hancock's name. The trust also helps fund research into the deadly disease at Leeds General Infirmary. The office can be contacted on 0113 231 1010.

© Peter Lazenby YEP

• View Menu In Large Print • Asbestos In Armley • Asbestos In Armley -The Fight Goes On • Armley Asbestos Adjournment Debate, 10th Jan 2002 • John Battle's contributions to the House of Commons debate on asbestos 16th January 2002 • John Battle MP still championing cause for mesothelioma victims • A War Of Attrition • Asbestos Companies Off The Hook • Tribute to brave June's battle for justice over asbestos dust • John Battle MP Advises Asbestos Victims To Ignore Federal Mogul Direct Appeal • John was quoted in a Guardian article on 16 Sep 2004 about mesothelioma • John Battle in Hansard on Asbestos in Armley - 1988 • Hansard 8 July 1992 - Asbestos Pollution (Armley) • Hansard 21 February 1994 - Mesothelioma Deaths (Leeds) • Emergency Debate On Asbestos • Leeds MP says battle will continue for Asbestos Widows • MP welcomes new help for mesothelioma sufferers • John Battle MP's welcome for mesothelioma drug ruling

• Asbestos Action Group • West Yorkshire Asbestos Action Group • June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund