A CORONER says she cannot be sure how a man who died from asbestos exposure came into contact with the deadly material.

Gordon Graham, an 85-year-old widower who lived on Marina Avenue in Great Sankey, died on April 9 after suffering from mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by being exposed to asbestos.

On Friday, an inquest at Warrington Coroner’s Court heard from Annette Butler, Mr Graham’s daughter, who said nobody can fathom how he came to be in such a situation.

The majority of Mr Graham’s working life was spent as a cardboard manufacturer at Thames Board Mills.

Mr Graham, who was born in Bolton, also had two spells as a labourer at Robertson’s Steelworks as well as one years’ national service between 1949 and 1950.

“He said the only asbestos he knew of was on his garage roof,” Mrs Butler said.

“He never went on there to do any work. He didn’t have anything to do with it.

“His mother worked in a laundry and his father worked on the railways and neither of them had any asbestos-related disease.”

Coroner Claire Hammond returned a narrative verdict as she could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that industrial disease was the cause of Mr Graham’s death.

“I see no reason to doubt mesothelioma as the medical cause of death,” Miss Hammond said.

“Gordon died as a result of asbestos exposure and it seems more likely than not that this came from his employment.

“However, when and how he came into contact with asbestos cannot be ascertained, so I cannot return a conclusion of industrial disease.”