This is how EW T reported the case in November 1999.
‘Legal action brought against telecoms giant BT by a former employee in a high profile case over permanent brain damage allegedly caused by mobile phone use has been shelved.
‘Stephen Corney, formerly a senior engineer at BT, had alleged that using mobile phones, for several hours a day as part of his job with BT, left his short-term memory irretrievably damaged.
‘The case received a large amount of media coverage when a protective writ was issued at a press conference in March. The writ, one of the first of its type in the UK, allowed Corney’s solicitors three months to gather evidence and medical data. The compensation being claimed exceeded £100,000.
“He never lodged a claim and the solicitors withdrew from the case,” a BT spokeswoman told Electronics Weekly.
‘Corney’s solicitors also confirmed that the case file had been closed.
It is uncertain whether Corney intends to pursue the issue at a later date. He had said problems began when BT switched from analogue to digital mobiles in 1995.
‘His job included driving around the UK testing the coverage of the phones.
Corney claimed to have started getting headaches, impaired hearing and eventually short term memory loss. Within nine months this led to Corney going sick. He has been unable to work since and was forced to retire last year.
‘BT has never commented on the case except to say at the time of the original writ that along with all the other telecom operators it had been studying the evidence and “all the experts agree there is no scientific evidence that mobiles pose any health threat.”
‘The question of safety has become a significant issue for the mobile phone industry in the last 12 months. In September MPs in the Select Committee on Science and Technology recommended that the radiation limits for mobile phones be cut to a fifth of their present level in line with EU recommendations. This was described by the MPs as a precautionary measure despite no scientific evidence to suggest the current limits represent a health hazard.
‘The government has also set up a group of independent experts to look into public concerns over mobile phone safety.
