£182,500 in damages for mesothelioma

The widow of a London man who died from mesothelioma after he was exposed to asbestos more than 30 years ago, has received £182,500 in damages in an out of court settlement. He had been employed as a ballet shoe maker at a factory. His job involved applying asbestos paste to the toe-ends of ballet shoes. When it came to making the paste each day he would tip the asbestos powder from a cement bag into his bucket. There were no air ducts or any kind of ventilation or extraction system in place and no-one was ever issued with any kind of protective breathing equipment or warned about the dangers asbestos posed to their health.