The father of a 23-month-old boy who has been at the centre of a life-support treatment battle thinks the youngster is improving and wants a fresh assessment.
Tom Evans and Kate James from Liverpool have lost legal fights over their son Alfie Evans in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights.
In February, Mr Justice Hayden ruled that doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool could stop treating Alfie against the wishes of his parents following hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London and Liverpool.
A barrister representing the couple, who are in their 20s, said Mr Evans believed that Alfie was showing signs of “cognitive improvement”.
Paul Diamond said Mr Evans wanted a fresh assessment.
Mr Justice Hayden said the hearing had been staged so that he could help Alfie’s parents and doctors decide exactly when treatment should stop.
He said it would not be possible for Alfie’s parents to make “further applications”.
Judges have heard that Alfie, born on May 9 2016, is in a “semi-vegetative state” and has a degenerative neurological condition doctors had not definitively diagnosed.
Specialists at Alder Hey said life-support treatment should stop and Mr Justice Hayden said he accepted medical evidence which showed that further treatment was futile.
Court of Appeal judges upheld his ruling.
Supreme Court justices and European Court of Human Rights judges have refused to intervene.
The couple have complained that “the state” is wrongly interfering with their parental choice.
They want to move Alfie to a hospital in Rome or Germany.
