Archie Battersbee's family have filed an urgent appeal to the Supreme Court today moments before his life-support was due to end. Doctors had previously said they would start withdrawing treatment from noon today, but since the application has been made they are waiting for direction from the Supreme Court, buying the schoolboy more time.
The 12-year-old’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, were granted a hearing on Monday after the Government asked judges to urgently consider a request from a UN committee to keep treating Archie. But after considering the case, judges refused to postpone the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment beyond noon on Tuesday.
Archie’s care was due to end at 2pm at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel on Monday. It came after a High Court judge previously ruled this to be in his best interests and the family exhausted all routes of appeal. But this was delayed due to the UN committee issuing a request to the UK Government on Friday urging it to “refrain” from taking him off life support while his case is under consideration by the committee.
