Alfie Evans: Parents of seriously ill toddler set to launch another legal fight over son's life support

Alfie Evans' parents have lost the latest stage of a fight to continue his life-support treatment
PA
Chloe Chaplain17 April 2018

The parents of toddler Alfie Evans, who has been at the centre of a legal battle over his life-support treatment, are set to begin another fight after asking the Supreme Court to consider their case for the second time.

Tom Evans, 21, and Kate James, 20, have made another application to the Supreme Court after losing a second fight their 23-month-old son in the Court of Appeal.

A lawyer representing the couple on Monday asked Court of Appeal judges to rule that Alfie should be allowed to travel to a foreign hospital for treatment.

But Lord Justice Davis, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Moylan ruled against them after an appeal court hearing in London.

Supporters look on as Tom Evans speaks
Getty Images

A Supreme Court spokeswoman said on Tuesday that the couple now wanted to mounted a further challenge.

She said they had asked Supreme Court justices to consider the case once more.

The spokeswoman said Supreme Court President Lady Hale and two other justices would examine the couple's application.

Distraught: Tom Evans and Kate James
PA

She said justices were aware of the "urgency" of the case but said no decisions had yet been made.

Alfie's parents have already lost fights 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.

Alfie: the toddler suffers with a serious neurological condition
PA

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.

Alfie's parents want to move their son from Alder Hey to a hospital in Rome where, the couple said, Italian doctors are willing to treat the little boy and an air ambulance is available.

But Mr Justice Hayden said flying Alfie to a foreign hospital would be wrong and pointless.

Court of Appeal judges upheld his decisions and Supreme Court justices and European Court of Human Rights judges refused to intervene.

Court of Appeal judges publish ruling outlining reasoning

"It is clear that by their present application the parents are seeking the same outcome that they were seeking from the court in February and March 2018.

"They wanted to take Alfie to the hospital in Italy and opposed his remaining in hospital in England. The court had to decide whether the parents should be permitted to do what they wanted or whether Alfie should remain in Alder Hey and receive treatment and care there...

"The court decided that the parents' views were not determinative; that moving him to hospital in Italy was contrary to his best interests."

"The application of a different legal label, namely habeas corpus, does not change the fact that the court has already determined the issues which the parents now seek, again, to advance. Their views, their rights do not take precedence and do not give them an "unfettered right" to make choices and exercise rights on behalf of Alfie. As the Supreme Court said in this case the rights of the child will, if inconsistent with the rights of the parents, prevail over them."

"We see no basis for any submission that he is being deprived of his liberty in terms ... the doctrine of habeas corpus. In our view the arguments advanced on behalf of the parents provide no basis on which Alfie could be said to be detained."

They are now arguing that Alfie is being wrongly "detained" at Alder Hey and have made a habeas corpus application.

A writ of habeas corpus - Latin for "you may have the body" - is a legal manoeuvre which requires a court to examine the legality of a detention.

It is a piece of common law which probably dates back to Anglo-Saxon times.

Mr Justice Hayden dismissed that habeas corpus claim last week.

Appeal judges upheld Mr Justice Hayden's decision but said doctors should keep treating Alfie pending a Supreme Court decision.

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.

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