51¶¯Âþ

An Australian woman who is dying of lung cancer has become the first person outside the US to win damages from the tobacco industry. Last week, Victoria’s Supreme Court ordered British American Tobacco to pay 51-year-old Rolah McCabe of Melbourne A$700,000. Judge Geoffrey Eames found BAT had destroyed thousands of internal documents that could have helped McCabe’s lawyers. The papers are believed to have covered marketing strategies and the health implications of smoking. The company says it will appeal against the ruling, which could provoke a flood of similar cases.