LEGAL costs have forced the family of an asbestos victim to drop their claim for compensation.
With less than a 50/50 chance of success, relatives of the late Doreen Ellis have had to stop legal action against Cape.
Mrs Ellis was exposed to asbestos dust as she washed her husband's overalls when he worked at Cape factory, Acre Mill, Hebden Bridge, more than 50 years ago.
She developed mesothelioma – a terminal lung condition – and died aged 73 in January 2004.
Mr Ellis, 76, of Thomas Street, Elland, worked at the factory between 1951 and 1953.
He said because an expert had not backed the family's case and the insurer was no longer willing to continue, he had no option but to drop the claim.
"I couldn't afford to pay costs if I lost and I feel angry and bitter,'' said Mr Ellis. "The whole thing stinks.''
Mr Ellis instructed Halifax solicitors John Pickering and Partners to claim compensation from Cape.
The case never reached court and progress rested on the outcome of a similar case involving the family of Teresa Maguire, who also contracted mesothelioma through exposure to her husband James's workclothes. She died aged 67.
He worked at Harland and Wolff, Liverpool, in the 1960s and was awarded £82,000 in a High Court settlement. But Mr Maguire was stripped of the award at a recent Appeal Court hearing which ruled the company was not legally liable for her death.
It said with the state of knowledge about the risks of secondary exposure to asbestos at that time, the company could not have reasonably foreseen that she would suffer personal injury.
That decision meant the odds of success in the Ellis case were slim and the insurer was no longer willing to risk the cost of defeat. Mr Ellis has already paid a £1,425 insurance bill.
"It makes it very difficult to proceed against Cape,'' said solicitor Paul Glanville, in a letter to Mr Ellis.
"Our engineer will not support your case and without a supportive opinion, the prospects of succeeding at trial are significantly less than 50 per cent.
"My advice is that we should discontinue.''
Mr Ellis has been told he can't continue with the case in future and Cape refused a request for a £65,000 settlement.
"It's not the money, I would have given that to grandchildren and Overgate Hospice," said Mr Ellis. "I wanted people to know what was happening as there is going to be an explosion of asbestos cases in the next few years.''
In a letter to Cape's lawyers in Southampton Mr Glanville expressed his frustration.
"Cape accepts it has liability for Acre Mill, accepts Mrs Ellis died from asbestos dust from Acre Mill brought home on the clothing of her husband, Cape accepts negligently exposing her husband to asbestos dust, yet Cape is not prepared to meaningfully consider its responsibility to Mr Ellis,'' he wrote.
Mr Ellis said his family – three children, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren – were disgusted. He said: "I expect to die from asbestos disease but I won't go for a chest x-ray as I don't want to know.''
The couple had been married for 52 years.
brian.coates@halifaxcourier.co.uk

ACRE MILL

Cape has a £40 million fund to pay for UK asbestos-related claims

Mesothelioma affects the lining of the lungs. Its only known cause is asbestos.

Mesothelioma kills 1,900 people every year in the UK.

Hundreds of local families have been touched by the disease through the Cape Asbestos factory at Acre Mill, Old Town.

The firm moved there in 1939 and thousands worked there until the mill was torn down in 1971.

Estimates suggest around 750 former workers at the mill have lost their life to the killer dust.