After exhausting domestic remedies, the family of Indi Gregory has this morning filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) asking for ‘Interim Measures under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court” before 4pm today (26 October) to prohibit withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment until the ECHR has considered the case.
The move comes following a decision this week by Court of Appeal judge, Lady Justice Eleanor King, which refused to allow the family permission to appeal a High Court decision that it is in the seven-month-old baby’s ‘best interests’ to die.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Indi’s parents Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth from Derbyshire, have no alternative but to take the case to the ECHR in Strasbourg.
The family has appealed to the ECHR on the grounds that the High Court trial was procedurally unfair as the Trust was allowed to provide expert opinion evidence, without having any formal permission to do so or being instructed as experts, and yet Justice Peel refused to allow Mr Gregory to instruct experts in either mitochondrial disorders, neuroradiology or cardiology to support his case.
A stay has been granted to the family until 4pm on Thursday 26 October to make the application. The family will now wait to see if the ECHR will take forward their claim.
The eight-month girl is battling a rare mitochondrial disease and Indi’s parents maintain that, despite her disability, she is a happy baby who responds to their touch.
Being treated at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, the parents are locked in a legal battle with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust who argue that life-saving treatment for Indi should end.
On filing the application, Mr Gregory said: “The whole experience of the court system is completely one-sided. From day one all we ever wanted was for Indi to have a fair trial and to be allowed to have an independent specialist, not affiliated with the NHS, to provide expert evidence. What you would think is a fair and basic wish and right, however, has been denied to us and we have not been given that opportunity.
“This is the life of an 8-month-old baby who is being discriminated against because of her disabilities and is being denied the right to a fair trial.
“Because the hospital doesn’t understand Indi’s complex condition they have given up on her and would rather let her die than allow us to seek international help and expertise. To us, Indi is everything, and is worth the cost and fighting for to give her a chance to live.
“As parents we believe it is our duty to do everything we can to protect our child. Claire and I are both heartbroken that the courts and NHS are not doing more to help us. It shouldn’t be anybody’s right to end somebody’s life.
“We now hope and pray that the ECHR takes forward the case.”