A CARLISLE woman whose husband died of an asbestos-related disease says she has lost faith in the British legal system after being dealt a crushing blow by a judge.


Gill Harrington lodged a claim for compensation when her husband Percy died of mesothelioma aged 59. But a series of rulings means she has been forced to accept a payout of a fraction of what she believes she would have been awarded previously.


Percy died on Valentine’s Day 2003 of mesothelioma, an agonising lung illness usually caused by exposure to asbestos, which was once a common building material.
In his career as an electrician he had often been exposed to the deadly substance. For around 25 years, he had worked for Carlisle builders G Bowman, which has now folded, but solicitors were unable to trace any insurance details for the firm when he was working there.

Percy had also been subcontracted to John Laing builders for 18 months, during the building of the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven.

Follow up:

Mrs Harrington’s solicitor felt there was enough evidence for a case against the firm, and a trial against John Laing was expected to go ahead in June.


But in May, the House of Lords made an ‘apportionment rule’, whereby if a worker was exposed to asbestos by a number of employers each should only be liable to pay a proportionate share of compensation.


Saint Gobain Pipelines plc appealed against the decision to award £152,000 damages to a Flintshire widow because it said it was the legal successor to the original employer which had gone out of business, and so it was not fully liable.


Although the appeal was upheld by the Law Lords, the government has since announced it will amend the Compensation Bill to reverse their decision. But Judge Walton at Newcastle County Court refused to adjourn Mrs Harrington’s case until the ruling was reversed, and she has been forced to accept an out-of-court settlement she said was “derisory”.


The judge also said there would have to be a trial to determine whether John Laing owed a duty of care to Percy, who was subcontracted to them at the time.


Mrs Harrington, 54, said:

“The traumatic experience of nursing my husband through this appalling illness and its subsequent effects on my own health has been a nightmare.
“The consequences of this disease have left me a shadow of the person I used to be.
“It is inconceivable that a judge can make such a decision, depriving me of the fairness and justice I rightly deserve.
“This judge is totally out of touch. After this experience it is difficult to imagine having any faith again in our judicial system.
“Somebody is ultimately responsible for my husband’s death. The apportionment rule is so unfair.”

Mrs Harrington was once a legal secretary but is now unable to work due to the trauma of her husband’s death and the stress of the legal action.


Her solicitor Ian Bailey, of Irwin Mitchell solicitors, described the judge’s decision as “harsh”.


He said:

“There is a judge in London, probably the most experienced in these cases, who is nodding through applications to delay hearings on the basis that the law might change.”

A spokesperson for John Laing said the company was unable to comment.
Mrs Harrington is still trying to trace the insurer for G Bowman between 1962 and 1963 in the hope of making a further claim.


Source: Cumberland News



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