Midrar Ali: Court of Appeal rules life-support can be withdrawn from baby boy
Court of Appeal judges have ruled that doctors can stop providing life-support treatment to a brain-damaged baby boy from Manchester.
Midrar Ali was declared brain-stem dead by the High Court last month.
Mrs Justice Lieven, who analysed evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in Manchester, recently ruled that life-support treatment could lawfully end.
However, his parents had argued that Midrar was still growing and so should still be kept on life-support.
Three Court of Appeal judges analysed arguments from lawyers representing Midrar's parents Karwan Ali and Shokhan Namiq, and doctors, at a Court of Appeal hearing in London on Wednesday.
Sir Andrew McFarlane, who is president of the Family Division of the High Court and the most senior family court judge in England and Wales, said evidence showed that "awfully" Midrar no longer has a "brain that is recognisable as such".
"There is no basis for contemplating that any further tests would result in a different outcome," he said.
"The factual and medical evidence before (Mrs Justice Lieven) was more than sufficient to justify her findings."
He added: "No other conclusion was open to Mrs Justice Lieven."
Midrar's father said after the ruling: "It's just terrible."
Mr Ali disputed the medics' findings and said his lawyers would be working on an appeal.
He said: "Can death simply be ruled by judges? It's proscribed death, that is all I can say.
"My wife is feeling terrible, she can't even eat now. It's a very difficult situation for anyone to be in, they tell us the time and the minute."
He added: "It's like torture for me too now. I don't know where this goes, the lawyers have to work on it. We will probably be appealing against it.
"I don't know what the hospital will do without me agreeing to it. I don't want to agree to my boy going blue on my hand."
Midrar was starved of oxygen due to complications at birth and had been placed on a ventilator at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester.
The hospital's legal team applied to the courts for ventilation to be lawfully withdrawn, allowing Midrar a "kind and dignified death".
However, Midrar's father has said that his little boy is putting on weight.
Karwan Ali told the court on Wednesday that doctors could not be 100% sure that his four-month-old son Midrar Ali is dead and that he wanted more tests to be carried out.
Solicitor David Foster, who is based at law firm Barlow Robbins and represents Midrar's parents, said: "The family are disappointed at the decision of the Court of Appeal and are considering an appeal.
"They believe the law in this area should be reviewed and do not consider Midrar's condition is necessarily 'irreversible'."
He added: "They would like to have the court give weight to experts from outside the UK."
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