Appeal after Halesowen ex-plasterer's asbestos-related death

John Hastilow from Halesowen was 83 when he died in March 2016 following a short battle with his illness.

A post mortem confirmed the cause of death as asbestos related lung disease.

Having done his National Service with the Army in his teens, John later trained as a plasterer and worked at a couple of local businesses before he joined W. A Telling Ltd where he worked from 1974 until 1988.

Responsible for carrying out plastering work on a number of projects – including working on local authority properties – he would travel across the region from job to job working as part of a small team carrying out a range of tasks including adding a surface coating of Artex to ceilings in order to add a texture.

It was during this time that his family fear he may have been exposed to asbestos, with the dust created by the work he carried out covering his overalls and hair on a regularly basis.

Devastated by their loss, they have now instructed industrial disease law experts Simpson Millar to help determine how, when and where he was exposed to the asbestos fibres.

In later life John moved to a flat in Trefoil Gardens, Stourbridge, but he remained close friends with his former neighbour Roger, who has spoken out in a bid to ask those who worked with him to come forward with information that might help his family.

Roger said: “I was a neighbour to John from around the 1970s, and up to the late 2000s. Our families lived next door to each other, and we became quite close friends. We remained friends until his death in 2016.

“I can so clearly remember John coming home from work covered in plaster dust. It would be in his hair, on his eyelashes, on his overalls, hands and face.

“I know that in his work for WA Telling and subsequently Telling Birmingham that he would regularly plaster ceilings with Artex. We talked about it from time to time.

“It’s devastating to think that his life has been cut short as a result of asbestos exposure. He was clearly not aware of the dangers associated with the work he was doing, and I hope that we can now understand whether more could have been done to protect him.”

Roger recalls that once John started to struggle with his breathing, his condition worsened quickly, and in a matter of months he died.

Roger said:"In November 2015 I remember visiting John and he was really breathless. By January 2016 his condition had deteriorated significantly, and he could only speak a few words before his breathing became laboured.

“I remember getting in the car and commenting to my wife that this could be the last time we were going to see John, and sadly he died just a couple of months later.

“This has been such a tough time for the family, and I hope we can get the answers that they so desperately need in order to move forward with their lives.”

If you have any information regarding this case, please contact Simon Rosser from Simpson Millar on 0808 129 3320.