[Scarlett.]

The parents of a seriously ill baby have failed in their final bid to overturn a ruling giving doctors the powers to end his treatment and allow him to die.

Two Court of Appeal judges refused the couple permission to challenge a ruling by Mrs Justice Parker which gave the hospital treating the nine-month-old boy, named as OT, the right to stop medical treatment keeping him alive.

Lord Justice Ward, who had been told the anxious parents were waiting outside, said: "We are not unmindful of the horror of their predicament."

He asked their lawyers to tell them he found it impossible not to feel the "deepest sympathy for their predicament". This was despite the hearing seeking permission to appeal had been conducted "in a brusque, uncaring, unfeeling way on a crude issue of law", he said.

He added: "One has great respect and admiration for them."
OT, who has a rare metabolic disorder and has suffered brain damage and major respiratory failure, is kept alive on a ventilator.

The NHS trust involved, which, like the child and his parents, cannot be identified on the orders of the courts, had argued that the child had no prospect of recovery and that he suffers intolerable pain as a result of his treatment and condition.
OT's parents, Mr and Mrs T, fought the trust's application for a declaration that withdrawal of treatment was in the child's best interests. They want doctors to keep him alive as long as possible, so long as that does not cause him unacceptable suffering.

Lord Justice Ward and Lord Justice Wilson said they would give their reasons for rejecting permission to appeal at a later date.
The court order allowing doctors to withdraw treatment now comes into effect immediately as there is no further avenue of appeal for the parents.

MSN

[MarkWaldorf]

Oh that's terrible ;( I hope the parents will be alright.

[Harry!]

Poor baby RIP

[pinkmichk]

must be incredibly hard not just for the parents and family but cant imagine it being a easy job for the court to have to decide over