Wartime bombs led to death 70 years on

 Second World War bombs likely killed a woman 70 years after they fell, an inquest has found. Sheila Gow, a retired office worker, died age 80, a month after being diagnosed with metastatic epithelioid mesothelioma, an asbestos-related illness. Mrs Gow passed away in her sleep at her home in Exeter in July 2017.

In a statement read out at the inquest her husband, John, said: “After she was diagnosed we spent quite a lot of time thinking about situations she was exposed to. The only possible one was from when she was young. She was born in Croydon, and during the Second World War the town was heavily bombed. There was a significant amount of expensive rebuilding.

“She remembered one school building near her suffered damage and was temporarily re-roofed using asbestos.”

Luisa Nicholson, the assistant coroner, said: “On the balance of probability, Mrs Gow was exposed to asbestos during her lifetime, probably as a result of reconstruction of bomb damaged buildings in her neighbourhood.”