Carpenter's asbestos death

nlnews@archant.co.uk
29 October 2009

A CARPENTER died of cancer 40 years after being exposed to asbestos working for a Crouch End firm, an inquest heard.

Solomon Solomon's son and tearful daughters listened as the history of his eight year contact with cancer-causing asbestos was detailed at Barnet Coroner's Court last Wednesday.

A statement written by Mr Solomon before his death described his exposure at Haringey properties, including a house in Cranley Gardens, while working for Crouch End company Michaelides Brothers in the 1970s.

The father-of-six, married to wife Eve for 41 years, also worked with the substance at a host of other sites across London while employed by the firm.

Reading from the statement, assistant deputy coroner Patricia Harding, said: "I was never provided with any overalls or protective clothing and was never told of the dangers."

The 63-year-old, who was born and buried in Larnaca, Cyprus, said he was not exposed again after leaving the firm, which later went bust.

But decades later in March 2007, Mr Solomon was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer caused by inhaling asbestos fibres.

He had chemotherapy and at first appeared to be improving, but the cancer eventually worsened and he died at home in The Mall, Southgate, on Friday, July 17, this year.

Returning a verdict of death from an industrial disease, Ms Harding said: "It is clear that the evidence is that Solomon Solomon was exposed to asbestos, a known causative agent for mesothelioma, for an extended period during the cause of his employment.

"I'm satisfied that that was how he came to die."

He is survived by wife Eve, six children, and 11 grandchildren including baby Sol, named after his grandfather and born three days before he died.

Kyri Solomon, of Woodfield Drive, East Barnet, paid tribute to his father after the inquest.

He said: "He was a very well loved and respected family man and he was a great father, a good husband to my mother and a good grandfather to our children."

But he explained his father had been "bitter" about the illness.

"He felt pretty bad about the fact that he was working for years and was exposed to asbestos and wasn't given any protection or warning," he said.

"Forty or 50 years down the line his life was taken away from him through no fault of his own.