Former Kettering minister's family want answers after his asbestos-related death

Brian Griffith died in 2018
(L-R) Karen Griffith, Sheila Griffith, Brian Griffith and Mark Griffith.(L-R) Karen Griffith, Sheila Griffith, Brian Griffith and Mark Griffith.
(L-R) Karen Griffith, Sheila Griffith, Brian Griffith and Mark Griffith.

The daughter of a former Kettering church minister has appealed for help to find out how he was fatally exposed to asbestos.

Anyone who regularly attended the United Reformed Church in Kettering in the 1970s will remember Brian Griffith.

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He came to Kettering from Bristol and was minister at the London Road church for 11 years but in 2018 he died aged 81 after a short battle with mesothelioma, an incurable asbestos-related disease.

Now his family are hoping to find people who worked alongside him during his years in the town to try to establish exactly when and how his exposure to asbestos occurred.

Brian’s daughter Karen said: “Dad told us that the Kettering church had a boiler with asbestos-lagged pipework and that he would go and help the caretaker with boiler maintenance.

"Presumably the boiler was also serviced professionally from time to time.

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"We are hoping someone local may be able to help us establish when and why the fatal dust particles entered his lungs to give us closure about why his well-earned retirement was cut short by his illness."

Figures released by the Health and Safety Executive show that asbestos-related diseases currently account for more than 5,000 deaths each year in the UK.

The family is being represented by Phoebe Osborne, a solicitor at the firm Ashtons Legal who specialises in mesothelioma injury claims.

She said: “The incidence of asbestos in churches is higher than you might expect.

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"It was often used for soundproofing, for prevention of fire hazards and was also added to acoustical panels for strength.

"In some churches it is also found in floor or ceiling tiles, roofing materials, pipe organs, bellows and organ blowers.

"The most common use however, is in pipe lagging in heating systems and it is only when the asbestos is disturbed and dust particles enter the air that it becomes potentially lethal.”

Anyone who has information which might assist the family is asked to contact Phoebe Osborne on [email protected] or 07483 928171.

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