The character of Des Collins in the Netflix series Toxic Town is based on a real-life person of the same name. Des, just like his fictional counterpart, came across Graham Hind’s article in the Sunday Times and decided to fight for the rights of the aggrieved parties, helping them win the battle against the Corby Council. Des Collins is the founder and senior partner at Collins Solicitors, a law firm in Watford that specializes in civil litigation. It is important to note that although the creators of the Netflix series took certain creative liberties, most of the events depicted regarding Des are based on real life. From the approach he took to gather evidence against the Corby Council to the breakthroughs he made during the investigation, everything happened almost exactly as shown. It was a tough road for Des Collins, but his optimism was unmatched. He knew from the start that, though he would encounter many roadblocks, if he stayed persistent and honest in his work, he would get to the truth. Let’s explore how Collins carried out his investigation, how he brought different experts on board, and how he tackled each challenge that came his way.
Des Comes On Board
Des met Susan McIntyre, the mother of Connor Ford, who was born with deformed limbs. What set Des apart was that he didn’t try to sell a glossy narrative that was far removed from reality. Des told Susan upfront that he had an emotional connection with the town, as his family had lived there before he moved away and founded Collins Solicitors. In real life, Des had also worked in the steelworks. Des also assured Susan that she didn’t need to pay him upfront and that he would accept whatever she and the other mothers offered once they won the case. Des warned Susan that the journey would be difficult, and that they would need to do extensive research, as something like this had never been proven in court before. There was no precedent for airborne toxins affecting pregnant mothers, and Des, with his years of experience, knew it would be a tough task to gather the evidence to prove that Corby Council had been negligent.
Des and his legal team were struggling to find irrefutable evidence against the authorities when Sam Hagen, a former member of the CBC, anonymously left a bundle of confidential and technical documents on Des’ office desk. These papers revealed how CBC and its leader had recklessly tried to get rid of the toxic waste ignoring all the safety guidelines. In the Netflix’s series, Sam personally met Des to handover the documents, which isn’t exactly true to life.
Des Nullifies the Health and Enforcement Officer’s Report
Des Collins decided to approach the case step by step, proving one thing at a time. First, he needed to prove that a cluster of women had given birth to children with deformed limbs. Next, he needed to determine how the chemicals had entered the mothers’ systems—whether through the water supply or another channel. The most critical and challenging part was establishing that the toxins could impact the fetus adversely, causing deformities. Finally, he had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the council had known about the issue and had been negligent in handling the toxic waste. In real life, Des Collins followed a similar approach, speaking with experts like Roger Braithwaite, a contaminated land specialist, to gain a deeper understanding of the situation.
Meanwhile, the Corby Borough Council or CBC and its officials were busy finding evidence to counter the claims made by the prosecution. The health and enforcement officer produced a report stating that the birth defect rate in Corby wasn’t especially high compared to the wider Kettering area, and that the water supply was not contaminated. Des Collins then got in touch with an epidemiologist named Dr. Louise Parker (a real-life person), who discovered that the way the health and enforcement officer had calculated the birth defect rates was flawed. She also found out that during the land reformation, the number of birth deformities had almost tripled in the Corby area. This was the first win for the prosecution against the council officials.
Dr. Penman Made A Breakthrough
The second breakthrough came when Des Collins found evidence proving that a heavy metal like cadmium could have adverse effects on women if ingested. Dr. David Penman, a gynecologist and an expert in fetal medicine, discovered that although it was not possible to directly study the effects of cadmium on pregnant women, cigarettes contained cadmium, and there had been numerous published reports linking cadmium to limb reduction and other deformities in the newborns. Though Dr. Penman’s findings were a huge breakthrough, Des realized he would have to remove Tracey Ann from the list of aggrieved parties, as her inclusion was jeopardizing their chances of winning the case. Tracey’s newborn daughter Shelby-Ann hadn’t had deformities similar to those of the other children, so Des knew he had to make this difficult decision for the sake of the others. Both Des and Tracey were disheartened, but Des understood that, to win, he had to take such extreme and well-calculated steps.
Des Collins Finally Prove the Negligence Of Corby Council
The final breakthrough came when Tony Cox, an engineer brought on board by Des Collins, proved that the toxic dust could travel miles and that airborne toxins could be ingested by women living outside the vicinity of the steel plant. The Corby Council presented a different report stating that Tony Cox’s claims were not true. Des became concerned, so he asked Tony to go over the report again. That’s when Tony realized that the council had used the wrong equation from a German paper to calculate how far the toxins could travel. After the embarrassment of using a wrong formula and coming up with a flawed equation, the defense team realized that they wouldn’t be able to win the case and they would have to accept defeat.
In court, the defense lawyer hired by CBC officials tried to raise doubts in the judge’s mind by questioning the mothers’ past habits and lifestyles, pointing out how some of the mothers smoked and how Susan had been taking medication for depression and diabetes before her pregnancy. These claims were baseless, and in the end, the court ruled that Corby Council had been negligent in disposing of the hazardous waste in haste, generated as a by-product of steel manufacturing. It was the resilience, honesty, and patience of Des Collins that helped the mothers win the case against the Corby Council.
Des Still Runs His Law Firm
The Corby Council Case was the first time when it was proven that airborne toxins could affect a fetus and cause deformities. Had Des not been so committed to his efforts for the welfare of the mothers, I personally believe the truth would never have come to light. Des is still at the helm of affairs at Collins Solicitors, the Watford-based law firm, founded in 1995 that deals in matters of personal injury, conveyancing, family law, commercial law etc. Recently Des gave an interview to a leading English daily (The Telegraph) where he spoke in depth about how he cracked the Corby Council case and moreover how he could help the mothers and fight for their cause. Collins and Solicitors, who are a part of the UK Legal 500 list, are still committed to create an unwavering professional legal resource and additionally fight for the rights of those who have been unfairly treated.
