Parents of 12-year-old at centre of treatment dispute given appeal hearing date

The parents of a 12-year-old boy at the centre of a life-support treatment dispute have been given a date for a Court of Appeal hearing after a High Court judge concluded the youngster is dead.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot recently ruled that doctors could lawfully stop providing treatment to Archie Battersbee, after considering evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

Lawyers say Court of Appeal judges will consider the case at a hearing in London on Wednesday.

Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, have told Mrs Justice Arbuthnot they think he is “brain-stem dead”.

They said treatment should end and Archie should be disconnected from a ventilator.

Archie’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, of Southend, Essex, say his heart is still beating and want treatment to continue.

Lawyers representing the Royal London Hospital’s governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, asked Mrs Justice Arbuthnot to decide what moves were in Archie’s best interests

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot concluded Archie is dead, and said treatment should end, but gave Ms Dance and Mr Battersbee permission to mount an appeal.

She said there is a “compelling reason” why appeal judges should consider the case.

A barrister leading Archie’s parents’ legal team argued evidence has not shown “beyond reasonable doubt” that he is dead.

Edward Devereux QC said the decision had been made on a balance of probabilities.

He argued a decision of such “gravity” should have been made on a “beyond reasonable doubt” basis.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot decided appeal judges should consider that standard of proof issue.

Archie suffered brain damage in an incident at home in early April.

Ms Dance said she found her son unconscious with a ligature over his head on April 7 and thinks he might have been taking part in an online challenge.

He has not regained consciousness.