Asbestos death widow wins £4m compensation

The
widow of a man who died from exposure to asbestos has won a record £4.37m
compensation.

Lucia
Farmer – the widow of Anthony Farmer – was awarded the compensation by Mr
Justice Simon at Leeds High Court, after four former employers admitted
liability for the death of her husband, who worked with asbestos in the 1960s
and 1970s.

Farmer,
from Derbyshire, developed symptoms of malignant lung disease mesothelioma just
days after he and his partner sold their tyre company, Tyre Technics, for £30m
in 1998. He died in August 1999, aged 47.

The
record of damages reflects his earning potential and the fact that he would
have continued to provide for his family.

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Farmer’s
main former employers were: Rolls-Royce Industrial Power (India); NEI Clarke
Chapman; and members of the Babcock and Mitsui Babcock engineering groups.

By Quentin Reade