Mesothelioma compensation claim - Ministry of Defence - Donnington fire 1983
Boyes Turner's specialist lawyers pursued a claim for compensation on behalf of the family of a young woman who died in July 2007 aged just 31. She had three young children.
Miss P was exposed to asbestos when she was a young child as a result of the fallout from a huge fire at COD Donnington in June 1983. Miss P, who was aged seven at the time, played in the fall out from the fire. She described ash falling thickly from the sky and settling on the surrounding area just as if it was snow. She and her friends were throwing it at each other and running around trying to catch flakes of it in their mouths as it fell from the sky. The plume of smoke from the fire was so thick that it made the street lights come on in Shrewsbury, many miles away. The ash and fallout from the fire carpeted a wide area in Telford and the surrounding areas. Miss P was playing with the fallout from the fire on the day of the fire and for several days after. The local authority did not commence any clean up operation for five days. At the inquest into her death, the jury recorded a verdict of accidental death. They found that Miss P’s death was as a result of the asbestos she was exposed to from the fire when she was only seven. At the inquest it transpired that the MOD had initially denied there was any asbestos at all in the building that burnt down. This was despite the fact that the roof of the building, which covered 13 acres, was made from corrugated asbestos board, miles of pipework within the building were lagged with asbestos and the building contained brake pads. It also contained other toxic and carcinogenic substances.
As the MOD had denied there was anything dangerous within the building the council had reassured local residents that there was nothing to worry about and not made arrangements for a clean up operation until they had received their own results from their testing of the fallout which showed that it contained asbestos. An MOD enquiry into the cause of the fire had not conclusively established whether the fire was deliberate or accidental. However, the MOD depot was a sealed compound so only MOD employees or authorised visitors had access to the site. Evidence was also given at the inquest that there was a custom and practice on the part of the MOD employees of burning off polypropylene strapping around goods that came into the depot with cigarettes or lighters, rather than cutting through the strapping. This, coupled with the method of storage within the depot, the lack of sprinklers and the slow and inadequate response of the MOD fire brigade meant that once the fire had started it would inevitably rage out of control.
Proceedings have been issued against the MOD in the High Court and it is anticipated that the mesothelioma claim will conclude in the near future.
SEE ALSO
Our people
Making a claim
