A Pembroke Dock man who spent most of his working life at the naval dockyard repairing sea targets died as a result of industrial disease an inquest heard last week.

Eighty-one-year-old Kenneth Sealy, of Sunderland Avenue, passed away on August 19, after being diagnosed with Mesothelioma cancer, which he contracted as a result of exposure over a period of time to asbestos in the workplace, an inquest into his death at Milford Haven town hall heard on Thursday, November 23.

Coroner’s Officer for Dyfed Powys Police, Jeremy Davies, told the inquest that Mr. Sealy, who hailed originally from Cowbridge, enlisted in the army at the age of seventeen, spending time in Cyprus, Libya and Germany, for a period of time before being stationed at Llanion Barracks in Pembroke Dock.

After leaving the army in 1963 he started work at the Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, before going onto work at the MOD depot where he repaired sea targets.

During this time the inquest heard how Mr. Sealy would have come into contact with asbestos whilst stripping targets.

He retired in 1996 enjoying a happy retirement but with some health implications, when he was diagnosed with Diabetes, but that did not stop him from being independent.

In 2016 Mr. Sealy suffered with serious toothache and underwent an operation in Morriston Hospital to remove a wisdom tooth. It was during this treatment that a mass was discovered on his lung and he was diagnosed with cancer.

Pembrokeshire Coroner, Mark Layton told the inquest that the pathologist’s report stated that Mr. Sealy, who lived at Sunderland Avenue for the past 37 years, had contracted Mesothelioma from his past occupation, after coming into contact with asbestos, before concluding that his death was caused by industrial disease.