Mesothelioma claim for a former prop man at Pinewood Studios settles for a six figure sum

We were instructed by Mr K in late 2014 following his recent diagnosis with mesothelioma. Mr K had been a journalist for many years but when he was a young man he had had several short lived jobs including one for a company called Perforations Ltd making asbestos ceiling tiles and wall panels, another for the London Palladium working backstage and in addition a job at Pinewood Studios where he was a prop man. He believed he came into contact with asbestos in all three jobs.

At Pinewood he worked on films like "The Battle of Britain", "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "2001 Space Odyssey". He described much of the scenery being made from asbestos board and the film sets being fireproofed with asbestos. It was one of his jobs to shift the asbestos board around and assemble scenery. He worked alongside carpenters as they cut it to size. He also remembered asbestos tiles being used in a mock up of a German bunker which he helped construct for "The Battle of Britain".

It was not possible to trace Perforations Ltd, the company where he worked for a short period making asbestos tiles. The company history for Pinewood Studios / Rank was incredibly complicated, and Court proceedings were issued. Shortly before the first Court hearing Rank admitted liability.

Mr K died very soon afterwards leaving the claim to be concluded by his widow. As is common with living mesothelioma claimants Mr K’s claim was more valuable after his death than in his lifetime.

A timetable was put in place and the assessment of damages here was listed for early October. The claim concluded in early September.