A man won a long asbestos disease compensation battle but died from the illness only weeks later.
Former demolition worker John Manniex lived just long enough to win his battle following a three-day trial at the Royal Courts of Justice.
But there was little chance for him to enjoy his undisclosed but "substantial" pay-out.
On July 1, the 77-y
ear-old widower from Kent Street, Leigh, succumbed to the mesothelioma he had contracted from exposure to the deadly dust while demolishing prefabricated houses in the late 1960s.
Mr Manniex worked for the demolition company Mee and Cocker (Leigh) Limited, which was based at Peacock Fold in Leigh.
He was employed to demolish prefabricated houses so that the aluminium used in their construction could be reclaimed.
His job involved the demolition of thousands of prefab properties with roofs that were lined with asbestos.
Before his death, Mr Manniex said: "Mee & Cocker were merely concerned with the aluminium roofs on the houses. At no stage did they ever warn us of the dangers of the asbestos that we were disturbing.
"We were never given a mask or alerted to the danger to our health."
But his employer denied that the prefabs contained asbestos.
Their lawyers argued that asbestos was not used in aluminium prefabricated housing.
At the trial, Stanley Mee, a former company director, admitted that he did not know what materials were in the buildings being demolished. He then admitted that the prefab roofs may have been underlined with asbestos.
Only then did Mee and Cocker's lawyers offer to settle.
Steven Dickens, of Thompsons Solicitors, said: "They forced a dying man to endure a 12-month legal battle culminating in a trial."
