Supreme Court rules against Alfie’s parents again

The parents of a 23-monthold boy who has been at the centre of a life-support treatment battle have lost the latest round of their legal fight after failing to persuade Supreme Court justices to consider their case for a second time.

Tom Evans and Kate James had made another application to the Supreme Court after losing a second fight over son Alfie Evans at the Court of Appeal. But justices yesterday dismissed their application.

Judges have also approved a plan for withdrawing treatment and bringing Alfie’s life to an end. They said no detail of the plan could be made public because Alfie was entitled to privacy as his life came to a close.

Alfie’s parents want to move their son from Alder Hey to a hospital in Rome. The couple said Italian doctors were willing to treat the little boy and an air ambulance was available, but Mr Justice Hayden said flying the child to a foreign facility would be wrong and pointless.