Latest news with #InDetail:TheToxicWasteScandal
BBC News
09-03-2025
- BBC News
What we learnt in the BBC's Toxic Waste Scandal podcast
One of the UK's biggest environmental scandals, the Corby toxic waste case, is back in the spotlight thanks to the Netflix drama Toxic tells the story of families fighting for justice after children in the Northamptonshire town were born with birth defects, believed to be caused by industrial 2009, after a long legal battle, the High Court ruled Corby Borough Council was negligent in managing the Radio Northampton has produced an eight-part podcast, In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, which offers a deep look into the real-life have we learnt from the podcast series? The verdict is still disputed The civil court hearing was told the heavy metal cadmium was identified on the former steel site, and a medical expert cited research linking it to birth defects in the three-month hearing, Justice Akenhead ruled in favour of the claimants – 18 families from speaking to the media for the first time, Dr Rick Smith, a clean-up consultant geologist for the council, says he believes the cluster of cases was not down to the transportation of the toxic said that while he agrees there was "cadmium in the stuff we transported", he disputed it would have caused the birth defects."I find it very hard to accept there was sufficient exposure of this very small number of members of the public to contaminants to have caused these distressing defects," he says."It defies any sort of logic. The whole thing is a mystery."He says the dust which was coming from the lorries was "not considered a health hazard by anyone at that time".Dr Smith added his colleagues were affected by the criticism following the ruling against the council. He said they were "hounded", and some never worked again. Not all the families were in court The podcast is hosted by George Taylor, who was born in 1992 with a unilateral upper limb defect, and whose family was one of the claimants in the they missed the verdict at the High Court because they were on holiday in Majorca."My dad would not be swayed – he said we deserved a holiday," George Danielle Holliday, a trainee solicitor at Collins Law at the time, was able to call the mother, Fiona, recalls that she "just broke down in tears" when she heard the verdict as she sat on the father, Brian, says he "just got up and walked along the beach, crying".When the family returned to the hotel the case was on the television, including pictures of George, but he says he was "more interested in wrestling my younger brother" at the pool. It was almost not a cluster Prof Sir David Spiegelhalter is emeritus professor of statistics in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of the time of the court case, he wrote a blog about the cluster of birth defects, and he speaks about it for the first time in the podcast."The number of birth deformities in Corby that were considered in the judgement was not especially unusual," he says."Using the calculations presented by the prosecution, we can estimate there are around 30 areas in the UK about the size of Corby that had more extreme clusters over that period just by chance variation alone."But there well may have been affected births – and of course I have every sympathy for the families. I'm only looking at the very technical issue of whether the data passed this established threshold."And it was very marginal. If there had been one birth defect less in the data considered in the judgement, there would not have been enough effect births to conclude there was an affected cluster." The council boss still cannot talk Chris Mallender, the then-chief executive of Corby Borough Council, was prominent during and following the court case, but once the settlement was reached he did not speak about it team behind the podcast attempted to contact him for an interview, and after weeks of trying he eventually got in touch by calling BBC Radio Northampton's public phone-in the settlement, Mr Mallender signed a non-disclosure agreement, but it was hoped there were still things he was able to talk about on the producer Sarah-Jane Muddiman called him back and spoke to him for 24 minutes, but he said he was not able to be interviewed and did not want details of the conversation to be revealed. The compensation has helped Families affected won an undisclosed financial settlement in 2010, held in trust until the children turned now 32, says he is not allowed to say how much it was."What I can say is when you've got chronic pain, a hole in your hand and three largely useless fingers, it's handy to have a few quid to help with adaptations, taxis to hospital and pain relief."It's also good to thank your mum and dad for dressing your wounds and keeping you sane."He has also revealed he is "playing host to another tumour, my third one, in my shoulder".It is 13cm across and he could lose his arm, but he adds: "I just want to live my life." BBC Radio Northampton's eight-part documentary series In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal is available for download from BBC Sounds. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Quizzing mums over toxic waste 'made things worse'
The barrister who represented Corby Borough Council in the toxic waste court hearings says the questions he put to parents of children with birth defects "probably made things worse". Stephen Grime KC has spoken out for the first time about his role in the case for a BBC audio documentary series released to coincide with the release of a Netflix TV drama based on the story. Mr Grime said cross-examining mothers had been "the worst aspect" of the case. A group of Corby parents took the council to court in 2010 over birth deformities linked to the clear-up of the town's steelworks. During the court hearings, Mr Grime told the High Court the numbers of children with deformities in Corby was "normal" for the town's size. He also told the court there was a danger in being seduced by the idea of "clusters of cases". Looking back for the BBC series In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, Mr Grime said the "worst aspect was having to cross-examine mothers of the children - women who suffered deeply. "In some instances, I had to suggest to them that their memories about the dust or what the lorries were doing - things like that - were wrong." He added that his role was particularly difficult "when one knows very well that the witness you have is an honest person who's had a terrible time; whose child is injured; whose whole family's had a terrible time. "The questioning probably did make things worse." He revealed that he had since read some parts of the court transcript but "this is one bit that I just haven't felt that I wanted to go back to because I feared I would find that maybe I had been somewhat brusque or somewhat difficult when maybe I shouldn't have been. "But you can't change things after so very long." Mr Grime prepared 140 points of appeal against the court's decision that the council was negligent, but a settlement was reached with the families and the appeal was dropped. He said the appeal document was not only the longest he had ever drafted, but also the longest he had ever seen. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. 'He was born navy blue': Real-life stories behind Toxic Town Netflix series Netflix shines light on true story 'that's been buried for a long time' What is the story behind Netflix's Toxic Town?
BBC News
05-03-2025
- BBC News
Corby toxic waste case KC says quizzing mums 'made things worse'
The barrister who represented Corby Borough Council in the toxic waste court hearings says the questions he put to parents of children with birth defects "probably made things worse".Stephen Grime KC has spoken out for the first time about his role in the case for a BBC audio documentary series released to coincide with the release of a Netflix TV drama based on the Grime said cross-examining mothers had been "the worst aspect" of the case.A group of Corby parents took the council to court in 2010 over birth deformities linked to the clear-up of the town's steelworks. During the court hearings, Mr Grime told the High Court the numbers of children with deformities in Corby was "normal" for the town's also told the court there was a danger in being seduced by the idea of "clusters of cases".Looking back for the BBC series In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, Mr Grime said the "worst aspect was having to cross-examine mothers of the children - women who suffered deeply."In some instances, I had to suggest to them that their memories about the dust or what the lorries were doing - things like that - were wrong." He added that his role was particularly difficult "when one knows very well that the witness you have is an honest person who's had a terrible time; whose child is injured; whose whole family's had a terrible time."The questioning probably did make things worse."He revealed that he had since read some parts of the court transcript but "this is one bit that I just haven't felt that I wanted to go back to because I feared I would find that maybe I had been somewhat brusque or somewhat difficult when maybe I shouldn't have been."But you can't change things after so very long." Mr Grime prepared 140 points of appeal against the court's decision that the council was negligent, but a settlement was reached with the families and the appeal was said the appeal document was not only the longest he had ever drafted, but also the longest he had ever seen. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Netflix Toxic Town: Solicitor calls for full apology
A solicitor who represented families affected by a town's toxic waste scandal has called for a public inquiry and a "full apology".Years after Corby's steelworks were closed in 1980, mothers living near a reclamation site gave birth to children with upper limb Des Collins, from Watford, began conducting his own investigation, revealing birth defects in Corby were three times higher than in the surrounding area.A Netflix drama based on the Northamptonshire town's toxic waste scandal is now available to stream and Mr Collins said it was time for affected families to receive a full explanation. Toxic Town depicts the real-life battle of families in Corby whose children were born with defects in what Netflix described as "one of the UK's biggest environmental scandals". Speaking to the BBC's Justin Dealey, in light of the new production, Mr Collins said: "Back in the day... we tried on a number of occasions to get a public inquiry into this issue and it was always rejected."I think there will be calls again for a public inquiry because a lot of the story has come out - a lot of it hasn't come out - and the bit that hasn't come out is important because of the learning process."Mr Collins, who is portrayed in the Netflix production by actor Rory Kinnear, said he would be prepared to support the families as he had previously done."This needs to be brought before the public in a more complete way, and I'm not criticising the Netflix production at all, but I think it really does require - in the light of this - that there should be further examination of the issues," he added: "A full apology would represent a huge amount [to the families]."The local authority no longer exists, having been replaced by the North Northamptonshire unitary council in April case remains a landmark ruling in environmental justice. BBC Radio Northampton has produced an eight-part documentary series called In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, which will be available for download in March. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Netflix's Toxic Town, set in Corby, to be released on 27 February
A Netflix drama based on a town's toxic waste scandal will be streamed at the end of Town, which depicts the real-life battle of families in Corby whose children were born with defects, will air on 27 February. Many reached an out-of-court settlement after Corby Borough Council admitted it had made mistakes in the clean-up of the Northamptonshire town's former four-part series stars Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Robert Carlyle, Rory Kinnear, and Brendan Coyle, who is originally from Corby. The drama's synopsis described what happened in Corby as "one of the UK's biggest environmental scandals".It said Toxic Town focussed on mothers who fought a "David and Goliath battle for justice".After British Steel shut down its operations in 1979, it took 15 years to demolish the site and remove waste. Contractors hired by the council were said to have little experience handling toxic families claimed their 19 children were born with upper limb defects due to the removal operation. The mothers said they had been exposed to contaminated dirt while 2009, the High Court ruled that Corby Borough Council was negligent in managing the toxic Town is written by Jack Thorne, known for His Dark Materials and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.A podcast called "In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal" being made by BBC Northampton for BBC Sounds will be launched in March. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
