David Church from Harold Hill 'may have inhaled lethal asbestos'

David Church, 83, of Kingsbridge Circus, may have inhaled the lethal substance at work, East London Coroner’s Court was told.

“The death was referred to this court as there was a concern that Mr Church’s death was contributed to by contamination whilst in his occupation,” said senior coroner Graeme Irvine.

“In addition, concerns were raised about Mr Church’s living conditions that may have contributed to his death.”

But Mr Church’s former job was not stated during the brief court hearing in Walthamstow, where an inquest into his death was formally opened on Monday, November 11.

Mr Irvine said Mr Church had died on October 22.

Following a post-mortem examination on October 30, his primary cause of death was given as a combination of three conditions.

They were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchopneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis – a scarring of the lungs which makes it difficult for them to absorb oxygen.

These were found by the pathologist to be linked to “asbestos exposure”.

Mr Church also had cor pulmonale – a heart disease which causes the right side of the heart to fail.

Mr Irvine said he was opening an inquest to determine “the extent to which Mr Church’s death was caused by asbestos exposure, and the nature of that exposure – where it happened and when.”

He declared Mr Church’s family interested persons in the inquest, giving them the right to scrutinise evidence before the inquest and question any witnesses called to testify.

He asked his coroner’s office to obtain a statement from the family “setting out identification, who the deceased was in life and any information that they have in relation to the extent to which Mr Church was exposed to asbestos in life".

He added that if the Health and Safety Executive had been involved in any investigation that concerned Mr Church’s death he would need a report from the body.

His inquest was postponed to March 19, 2025.