Polegate man died of asbestos related disease

A Polegate pensioner died from an industrial related disease, an inquest has heard.
Eastbourne Town Hall (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-190425-155116008Eastbourne Town Hall (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-190425-155116008
Eastbourne Town Hall (Photo by Jon Rigby) SUS-190425-155116008

Seventy-one-year-old David Smith was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2018 and died in St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne in June this year.

An inquest was held into Mr Smith’s death at Eastbourne Town Hall on Thursday (September 17).

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Mr Smith, a former engineer of Romney Road, Polegate, worked in a scrapyard in Camden during his working life.

In a statement by Mr Smith prior to his death, he said that while he was working in the scrapyard, parts of the nearby railway station were being demolished and brought into the yard.

He said many of those items contained asbestos.

East Sussex coroner Alan Craze said he was satisfied that Mr Smith’s death was due to industrial disease.

Inquests are open to the public and members of the press who are permitted to report the proceedings in full.

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