Western Morning News (Saturday)

Death was caused by building work with asbestos

- OLIVIER VERGNAULT olivier.vergnault@reachplc.com

AMAN died of an industrial disease after being exposed to asbestos dust while working on building sites in Cornwall more than 35 years ago, an inquest has found.

Graham Eagles died early in March after developing a malignant lung disease two years ago, which coroner for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Stephen Covell, said could only have happened from breathing in asbestos dust during his employment as a builder erecting new homes around Redruth, Camborne and Truro in the mid 1970s and 80s.

Mr Eagles, 65, died at home in Sticker, near St Austell, after failing to respond to treatment for his aggressive mesothelio­ma, a type of cancer that develops in the lining that covers the outer surface of some of the body’s organs, such as the lungs.

The inquest heard that Mr Eagles moved to Cornwall from Leicester, where he was born, to start an apprentice­ship as a mason with a building company known then as LARK Ltd. After completing his three-year apprentice­ship, Mr Eagles remained employed with the company for another seven years.

The inquest heard that it was during his 10 years with LARK, building homes on new housing estates in West Cornwall, that he would close off the cavity between walls with asbestos boards, which were often brittle and cracked and would emit a lot of dust when cut.

It was also heard that during that time, between 1974 and 1984, when Mr Eagles decided to go it alone and become self-employed, he would also assist other tradesmen, such as carpenters, who would also cut asbestos soffits while working on scaffoldin­g, and dust from the toxic material would have been everywhere.

Mr Eagles, a much respected and loved committee member with local football side Sticker AFC, started complainin­g of tiredness and breathing problems just before Christmas 2020. He visited his GP early in 2021 because he thought it was his chronic obstructiv­e pulmonary disease getting worse.

Mr Eagles paid for his own private CT scans, which revealed issues with his prostate and lungs. A biopsy later showed the presence of mesothelio­ma. Mr Eagles’ health further deteriorat­ed throughout 2021 as immunother­apy, then chemothera­py, failed to work.

In March, as he was about to start a more palliative care treatment, he died at his family home. At the time of his death, Sticker AFC held a minute’s silence during their game against Morwenstow AFC. The club said at the time: “Thank you to Morwenstow AFC for being part of the minute silence to remember Graham Eagles. He was a loyal committee member, a friend to all and a lovely gentleman to have around. Graham will be very missed at Burngullow Park and by all that knew him.”

Mr Covell said he had no hesitation in finding that it was exposure to asbestos dust during the early part of his career which led to Mr Eagles developing the industrial disease.

After recording an industrial disease conclusion, Mr Covell said: “Asbestos dust is more or less the only cause of mesothelio­ma. I have no hesitation therefore to find that it was exposure to asbestos during his employment as a builder in the 70s and 80s which is the probable cause of Graham’s mesothelio­ma.”

Asbestos dust is more or less the only cause of mesothelio­ma CORONER STEPHEN COVELL

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