The parents of a severely disabled little boy have failed in the first stage of a European court bid after losing battles in London to maintain his life-support treatment.
A High Court judge has given doctors permission to provide only palliative care to 12-month-old Isaiah Haastrup – against the wishes of his parents, Lanre Haastrup and Takesha Thomas.
Mr Justice MacDonald analysed Isaiah’s case at the Family Division of the High Court in London in January after specialists at King’s College Hospital said providing further intensive care treatment was futile, burdensome and not in the youngster’s best interests.
Three Court of Appeal judges upheld his ruling on Friday, following a further hearing in London.
Mr Haastrup and Miss Thomas, who are both in their 30s and from Peckham, south-east London, want judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, to consider the case.
They had asked an ECHR judge to order hospital bosses to continue to treat Isaiah pending an appeal.
But an ECHR spokeswoman said the request for an “interim measure” has been refused.
A King’s College Hospital spokesman said medics would keep treating Isaiah until Mr Haastrup and Miss Thomas had exhausted their options.