Parents’ appeal over terminally ill baby refused by European Court
JUDGES IN the European Court of Human Rights have rejected a plea from the parents of terminally-ill baby Charlie Gard to intervene in the case.
Chris Gard and Connie Yates, who are in their 30s and come from Bedfont, west London, wanted 10-month-old Charlie Gard, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, to undergo a therapy trial in America.
But specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where Charlie is being cared for, say the therapy proposed by a doctor in the US is experimental and will not help the child.
After losing legal battles in the UK courts the couple then took their fight to the Strasbourg judges.
Yesterday the ECHR announced the application to the court by the parents was “inadmissible” and said their decision was “final”.
Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, where Charlie is being cared for, say therapy proposed by a doctor in the US is experimental and will not help. They say life-support treatment should stop.
Charlie’s parents hoped that judges in Strasbourg, France, would come to their aid after losing battles in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London.
Their lawyers had filed detailed written arguments and a spokeswoman for the Strasbourg court had said the case was at an “initial analysis” stage. Supreme Court justices in London said Great Ormond Street specialists should keep providing life-support treatment until midnight on July 10 to give European court judges time to consider the case.
A High Court judge in April ruled against a trip to America and in favour of Great Ormond Street doctors.
Mr Justice Francis concluded that life-support treatment should end and said Charlie should be allowed to die with dignity. Three Court of Appeal judges upheld that ruling and three Supreme Court justices dismissed a further challenge by the couple.
Mr Justice Francis made a ruling after a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London. He heard that Charlie, who was born on August 4 last year, has a form of mitochondrial disease, a condition which causes muscle weakness and brain damage.