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James F Linden. The true story of the Courtaulds Cancer-Gas Scandal.

 

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James F Linden's book 'Let the Devil Wear Black' is a true story of institutionalised fraud and corruption that was used to cover up a cancer-gas scandal that involved people at virtually every level, from a local factory with its national and international connections, through the organisations that are in place to protect individuals and the public, to the judicial system in the UK and possibly beyond.

Identities Revealed...

It is now 20 years since this happened so, in the spirit of any anniversary that has a zero at the end of the number, let's celebrate it by shooting the lock off Pandora's box and finding out the reality of what really went on.

In the book 'Let the Devil Wear Black', the location is set as Manchester so that those who were not particularly guilty of anything could live their lives in peace. However, this also lets the guilty get away with it.

Twenty years after the events that started this off, it is now time to reveal the real identities in this everyday story of corporate fraud and corruption and what better place to start than revealing that the real-life 'K. K. Gazelle's' factory site was the Courtaulds (formerly known as 'British Celanese', 'Acordis', 'Akzo Nobel', etc.) site in Spondon, Derby, UK.

The part of the site where 285 and 328 (TCEP and TCPP flame retardants, respectively) and the EBA and many more chemicals were made, was renamed 'Courtaulds Fine Chemicals' which appeared on headed note paper and everywhere you might expect a company name to appear, until somebody in sales wrote down the initials for it (as they are prone to do) and it was noticed that it spelled 'CFC' which also stood for Chloro-Fluoro-Carbons, a group of chemicals that were destroying the ozone layer and were an environmental disaster. It was quickly renamed 'Speciality Chemicals' and the CFC episode was kept quiet.

Continuing in the spirit of exposing the truth about this story, here are some more real names, in no particular order with no implication one way or the other of guilt or innocence:

In the book    Real Identity
Deryck Simpson Trevor D. Smith
Gurj Ranjit Kanvinde
Dr Martin Cotes Dr Alan Walters
2800 Plant Manager (before Martin) Howard W T Sutton
Eric Allister Lovett
Col Burgess Dan M. Smith
Roland Bosworth Nigel Herbert Empson
InComp Vistec Computer Services Ltd, Little Eaton, Derby
Sturges Nother David Hicks
Crimp and Flagstaff Warner Cranston Ltd, Clink Street, London
Penelope Cam Jenny Waid
Percy Drabble Richard Gray
David Snaith Steve Dallaghan
Tod Bexley David Corkhill
James Markfield Mick O'Toole
Harry Stoke Wilf Hey
Aaron Shimpson Dr Alan Solomon
Gaia Friends of the Earth
Manchester Mail Derby Evening Telegraph
Lydia Brown Caroline Smith
Industrial Tribunal Regional Office of the Industrial Tribunal, 7th Floor, Birkbeck House, Nottingham
ROIT Chairman Mr T. R. Capp
Paul Foot Himself
Peter Mandelson Himself
Maitland Gayle-Davis MP Rt. Hon. Margaret Beckett MP
 

On this site, there are additional resources that will allow you to delve a little more deeply into the background of this scandal from extra information on some topics to things that you can try out yourself.

There is

  • General information which is of interest to anybody, regardless of whether they have bought the book or not; and,
  • Extra resources that add greater depth to your experience of the book.


 
Could it really be, I thought, that Snaith’s management style was in fact considered by his superiors to be a splendid example of how the human resources department should be run in real life?

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