Parents lose court battle over baby Charlotte

The parents of seriously ill baby Charlotte Wyatt lost their legal battle today to overturn a court order allowing doctors to let her die if she stops breathing.

But British High Court judge Mr Justice Hedley said the order was not open-ended and remained subject to review.

Darren and Debbie Wyatt held hands at the back of the London courtroom as the judge said: “I am quite clear that it would not be in Charlotte’s best interests to die in the course of futile aggressive treatment.”

He said that in the event of respiratory collapse, all treatment up to but not including intubation and ventilation would be in Charlotte’s best interests, “but nothing further”.

Doctors at St Mary’s Hospital in Portsmouth won the legal right last October not to resuscitate Charlotte – now 18 months old – after arguing that her brain and other organs were so seriously damaged that she had “no feeling other than continuing pain”.

But it now appears that Charlotte could survive for a considerable time, possibly years, although the medical prognosis for her quality of life is still grim.