'It was devastating to see dad deteriorate so quickly'

FAMILY APPEAL FOR ANSWERS OVER ASBESTOS EXPOSURE AT SHIPYARDS ON TYNE

- By SAM VOLPE Health reporter [e-mail]

AN accountant died due to asbestos-related cancer more than half a century after a brief stint as a teenage office boy at a Tyne Dock firm working in the shipyards.

Leslie Inskip, 88, died in September last year after being diagnosed with mesothelioma.

He had been a respected accountant and finance director and was well known in the County Durham golfing world, where he spent seven years as club chairman at Beamish Park Golf Club. However, he spent three years from the age of 15 working as an office boy at the Law Brothers marine plumbing firm.

Whickham man Leslie, a father of two and grandfather of four, died due to "industrial disease", an inquest heard. Now his family have instructed lawyers from Irwin Mitchell to investigate whether his job at the long-defunct Law Brothers brought him into contact with asbestos.