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Asbestos cancer kills 32-year-old

A man thought to be one of the youngest person in the UK to contract asbestos-related cancer has died. Barry Welch, a 32-year-old father of three from Leicester, was diagnosed with mesothelioma last year. His family believe he was exposed to asbestos fibres as a child in the 1970s when his stepfather Roger Bugby worked for Palmers Scaffolding. IT is thought the exposure came from contamination on Mr Bugby’s clothing when he worked as a scaffolder on Kingsnorth Power Station, adjacent to the Isle of Grain. He was diagnosed with the cancer last September and given just six months to live. At the time, Barry Welch said: 'I am an innocent victim. It just seems so unfair that my life will be cut short, even though I never knowingly came into contact or worked with asbestos.' Solicitors for the Welches are pursuing a claim for compensation against Mr Bugby's former employer.

• Leicester Mercury. BBC News Online.
• Can you help? The Welch family’s solicitors, Irwin Mitchell, want to hear from anyone who worked with Roger Bugby for Palmers Scaffolding in the 1970s or with a knowledge of working conditions on the Kingsnorth Power Station. Contact Adrian Budgen or Martyn Hayward on 0114 274 4420.

Briefing document (300 words) issued 6 May 2005