Cancer sufferer awarded £130,000 in asbestos case

Published on Tuesday 19 August 2008 22:15

A CANCER sufferer who is terminally ill won a £130,000 damages award yesterday.

Part of the compensation to Thomas Renfrew, who was exposed to asbestos as a shipyard worker, is to recognise the care given to him by his wife Margaret since he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer.

Mr Renfrew, 63, of Ardrossan, Ayrshire, sued two companies, Lithgows and Scotts' Shipbuilding, over his exposure to asbestos while working as a painter in Clydeside yards between 1959 and 1973. The firms admitted liability but disputed the level of damages he should receive.

The Court of Session was told that Mr Renfrew began feeling breathless about New Year 2007, and by the summer he had been diagnosed as suffering from mesothelioma.

An issue in the case was Mr Renfrew's life expectancy had he not developed mesothelioma. The longer he could have been expected to live, the greater the award of damages.

His lawyers argued he could have lived for another 13 years, while the firms said it would have been about three years.

The judge, Lord Woolman, said medical evidence persuaded him ten years was correct. He set the payment at 130,375, of which 16,672 was for care given by Mrs Renfrew.