A WIDOW has won £74,000 in compensation after her late husband was exposed to lethal asbestos while at work. George Combe was routinely exposed to the dust while he was an apprentice turner at an engineering firm.

The grandfather, from Whitburn, died aged 69, just four months after doctors told him he had developed the deadly respiratory condition, mesothelioma. Mr Combe’s widow Marjorie said: “It was horrible. He was such a good man and husband.

“In a matter of months he went from being a fit, healthy man, who was still able to work part-time and carry out jobs around the house, to receiving palliative care to help reduce his pain and to make him comfortable.”

Mesothelioma is a fatal cancer of the lung lining. It develops as a result of inhaling asbestos dust but it can take decades to develop. The disease kills almost 2,000 people a year in the UK.

Prior to his death, Mr Combe, who had two daughters, turned to industrial illness specialists at Irwin Mitchell to help secure compensation from his former employers.

After his death Mrs Combe, 69, decided to continue the fight and today said she is relieved to have won for her husband of 46 years.

But she said that the out-of-court settlement would never make up for the family’s loss.

She said: “It is unforgivable that companies like George’s former employer were able to expose their employees to such a dangerous substance. Although it will never bring George back, I am pleased they been made to pay for what they have done to an innocent man who worked for the company.”

Mr Combe worked at John Brown Engineering, on the River Clyde, from 1956 to 1961. He died in 2009 in St Clare’s Hospice, Jarrow.

Roger Maddocks, partner at Irwin Mitchell, worked with Mrs Combe to ensure she has access to the financial security she needs to have as a comfortable future as possible after her husband’s death.

He said: “Unfortunately, this victory has come too late for Mr Combe. He did not work directly with asbestos, but was exposed to substantial levels of the deadly dust when other men in the workshop worked on asbestos lagged equipment, through the workshop’s heating system and also when he would occasionally visit the factory’s shipyard.”

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