Asbestos in garden killed my husband

Widow to sue council over dumping

A heartbroken widow is suing a Scots council because she believes her husband developed cancer after clearing up asbestos dumped by their workers.

Moira Crosbie says her late hubby Walter contracted the rare cancer mesothelioma which is most often caused by exposure to the outlawed building material while tidying the garden of their local authority house in Kilmarnock.

Walter, who was a salesman for whisky giants Johnnie Walker before his retirement, passed away in October, aged 73, just over 12 months after he was diagnosed with the disease.

And last night grieving Moira revealed: “Walter died in a most distressing way.

“It was heartbreaking. He had been fit and active but the disease made every breath a painful struggle.

“I believe he contracted it after clearing asbestos dumped in our garden by council contractors.”

Moira says Walter may be just one of many locals around Kilmarnock’s Broomhill Road West to develop asbestos-related cancer after the demolition of a number of pre-fab homes in the area.

It’s understood the homes that were torn down had asbestos roofs and in the days before the risks of the material were fully known the spoil was simply left nearby.

“We asked the council to remove it when we first got the house in 1968 but they never did,” Moira recalled.

“Walter then cleared it over several weekends with a wheelbarrow. He wanted to make the garden nice for our three children.”

Symptoms of mesothelioma can take anything between 20 and 50 years to develop after exposure to absestos fibres. In Walter’s case, it wasn’t until 2011 after the couple had moved to Taunton, Somerset that the problem was diagnosed.

Moira explained: “Walter fought the disease with dignity. But it was very difficult. A nurse had to visit every day to draw off fluid from his lungs so he could breathe.”

Following an inquest into his death, the coroner’s report stated: “He is believed to have been exposed to asbestos when working the soil of the garden of a new house built on the site of demolished prefabs in Scotland.

“It is thought the ground was contaminated from the prefabs.”

Following that report Moira determined to help others in the same situation. She took advice from industrial illness specialists Novum Law and has launched a damages action against East Ayrshire Council.

She said: “I only want justice. It’s important to warn other families that careless dumping of asbestos kills.”

According to the Institute of Occupational Medicine, many thousands could be at risk of getting mesothelioma simply by digging their garden.

Senior consultant Dr Alan Jones said: “Asbestos has been found in the gardens of homes which previously sited factories and houses built with it.

“The risk lasts for decades in the soil and even low levels of asbestos from digging the garden can cause fatal lung disease.”

Last night, Moira’s solicitor Helen Grady added: “We would like to speak to anyone who lived near the Crosbies in Broomhill Road West, Kilmarnock.”