I have been contacted by Richard “Nibby” David regarding the resumption of his suit against Honeywell on the grounds of his being contaminated by depleted uranium whilst he worked in the aerospace industry. I confess his name rang a vague bell but I could not place it so I did some digging. What I found was the following:

From 1985 to 1995, Nibby David worked as a civil engineer in the aerospace industry in Yeovil, UK, for the company Normalair Garrett, now owned by the US company Honeywell. During this time he had to handle many components containing depleted uranium, the consequence of which are an increased rate of dicentric and ring chromosome mutations in his lymphocytes. These mutations are known to be caused by exposure to ionising radiation. He now suffers from a very rare disease called Gitelmans syndrome which usually manifests itself at birth not in one’s late 40s as in the case of Nibby David. Nibby David is dying as a result of the exposure.

Nibby tells me that the trial has been sceduled to restart 4th October 2005 until 23rd November 2005 at the High Court in London. Sadly his case is much more against the heart of the establishment and therefore subject to less publicity than the MacLibel trial (in fact the only reference in the media I could find was IndyMedia and 1 reference last year in The Guardian) but it is in many ways a more potent and important one for the precedent that it could set. This is especially prevalent in the case of the Gulf War Syndrome cases who are currently fighting to have the medical link recognised between depleted uranium and cell detirioration and deformity, this goes some way to explaining the media blackout in Nibby’s case. Currently Nibby is without a lot of support financially and practically, for example not having anywhere to stay in London for the duration of the trial. If anyone has any way of giving him assistance I urge you to do so. For my part I will be forwarding this case on to organisations that I think could and should help such as Respect and my trade union, if you are affiliated to any such organisations please do the same. I have also contacted George Galloway to see if it is a matter he may be able to raise in Parliament and the Morning Star newspaper in an attempt to raise the public profile as much as possible.

I do not like to think of a man who has firstly suffered greatly simply as a result of a job which should not have been so hazardous and secondly then had the courage to try to do something about it on a wider scale feeling that he is alone. Furthermore it would be a disgrace if the justice for one man was curtailed in any way by financial or personal constraints and for it to be something as trivial as a place to stay beggars belief. Through much of my life I have always been apprehensive of whether I had the conviction to truly put my principles on the line in such a circumstance, it would at least be to my credit if I can help someone who clearly has that conviction.

So this is a Redbaron call to arms if you like. Time we stopped chatting about what is wrong in the world and how to change it and time to put some hours in to actually do so.

(Nibby if you are reading this and haven’t seen my reply to your last comment get in touch by the means listed there.)

Song Of The Day ~ Bob Marley – Get Up, Stand Up

Original Comments:


Mark Ellott made this comment,
I’m no longer a member of a trade union (since my redundancy) – so there’s nothing practical that I can suggest beyond what you are already doing. Frankly, it’s appalling, but then, no surprise…
comment added :: 17th August 2005, 19:29 GMT+01 :: http://longrider.blog-city.com
Pimme made this comment,
It’s sadly all too typical of a company to endanger a person and then try to keep it quiet when he seeks compensation. I hope that Mr. David wins his lawsuit. Shame on the media for all the cover ups, too!
comment added :: 21st August 2005, 01:43 GMT+01 :: http://pimme.blog-city.com