Widow bids for justice

DEVOTED dad of two Dennis Hatfield, died after suffering asbestos cancer mesothelioma

THE devastated widow of an asbestos victim is urging his workmates to come forward to bolster her fight for justice.

Great-grandfather Dennis Hatfield, from Chadderton, died in September, last year, aged 82, after suffering mesothelioma.

The disease is caused by exposure to deadly asbestos dust.

Now his wife Vera (81) is appealing for people to come forward who may have experienced similar working conditions.

She said: “Dennis was my lifelong companion. We’d been together for 59 and a half years and I miss him terribly. To see him at the end of his life in so much pain and confined to his bed, was heartbreaking.

“As a family we want answers and for justice to be done so we can try to move on with our lives as best we can.”

The father-of-two worked for Vickers shipyard in Barrow-In-Furness from the age of 14 as an apprentice joiner building wardrobes for the bulkhead of naval ships.

He later worked at Oldham Royal Infirmary and Oldham and District General Hospital as a maintenance joiner from 1969 to 1988.

The family’s lawyer, Katrina London, from Irwin Mitchell solicitors, said: “The sad fact is that many workers over past decades were exposed to asbestos through no fault of their own.

“They often developed serious, debilitating health problems in later life as was tragically the case for Dennis.

“We are very keen to talk to anyone with information about his working conditions.”

Dennis later returned to work at Vickers, now BAE systems, as a joiner sometime around the late 1980s.

Anyone who can help with information is asked to contact Katrina London, at Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office on 0161-838 7262 or email katrina.london@irwinmitchell.com.