Delay to allow six-year-old's use of cannabis oil 'unconscionably cruel'
The family of a six-year-old boy from Warwickshire, with rare epilepsy, has welcomed the Home Secretary's decision to allow another severely ill boy to use cannabis oil treatment, but says they still haven't heard about the status of their application, two months on.
Alfie Dingley, from Kenilworth, and his family have been campaigning to use cannabis oil for months to help prevent his seizures.
His mother Hannah Deacon was told by the Prime Minister in April that her application for a license to use the drug would be reviewed 'speedily', but since then, she still hasn't heard an outcome.
But now the Home Office has permitted 12-year-old Billy Caldwell to use the drug, Alfie's mother says it would be "unconscionably cruel" to further delay her son's access.
The former drugs minister Norman Baker described the confiscation of the oilbrought into Heathrow Airport by Charlotte Caldwell on Monday as "cruel and inhumane", and renewed calls for a law change.
Ms Caldwell, from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, vowed to keep up the fight to get the necessary cannabis medication for others in the UK.
Billy's future access to the treatment also remains uncertain, with the HomeOffice only granting a licence for one of the seven bottles confiscated.