The parents of a seriously ill baby have lost a High Court battle to keep their child on life-support treatment.
Seven-month-old Indi Gregory, who is being treated in Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, has a mitochondrial disease – a genetic condition which saps energy from the body’s cells.
Judge Justice Peel, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, heard evidence of her condition and from specialists who stated she was dying,
The hospital’s governing trust requested a ruling allowing doctors to lawfully limit treatment.
Indi’s parents, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, from Derbyshire, wanted life-support treatment to continue.
Image: Indi Gregory is on life-support treatment
Mr Justice Peel ruled medics could lawfully withdraw invasive treatment, which he said would come “as a heavy blow” to the parents.
‘No prospect of recovery’
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In a written ruling, he said: “With a heavy heart I have come to the conclusion that the burdens of invasive treatment outweigh the benefits.
“In short, the significant pain experienced by this lovely little girl is not justified when set against an incurable set of conditions, a very short life span, no prospect of recovery and, at best, minimal engagement with the world around her.”
He added: “In my judgment, having weighed up all the competing considerations, her best interests are served by permitting the trust to withdraw invasive treatment.”
‘Nothing further can be done’
Barrister Emma Sutton KC, on behalf of the trust, told the judge Indi was critically ill and had an exceptionally rare and devastating neurometabolic disorder.
She said the treatment Indi received caused pain and was futile.
“Indi is dying,” Ms Sutton told the judge.
“We cannot get away from that fact as sensitive as it may be. All realistic options have been exhausted.”
She said nurses were “watching Indi suffer” and added: “This has been looked at nationally, it has been looked at internationally.
“Sadly, the conclusions are that nothing further can be done.”
Indi’s father had told Mr Justice Peel his daughter had “proved everyone wrong” and needed “more time”.
Image: Indi had ‘proved everyone wrong said her father
“You have only got one life,” he had said. “You have to go through a little bit of pain to carry on with that life.”
A ‘death sentence’
Speaking after the verdict, Mr Gregory said: “We are devastated by the judge’s ruling and will be appealing.”
He added: “The doctors painted a terribly bleak and negative picture of Indi’s condition during court proceedings.
“It feels like the trust has been given the permission they were after to legally proceed with a death sentence for Indi. Is this in the best interests of Indi or the trust?”
Image: Mr Gregory: ‘We just want to give her a chance’
Mr Gregory added: “That picture was so misleading that, after hearing their evidence in court, the media reported that Indi had to be resuscitated nine times in one day. This is completely untrue.
“It is criminal that parents who are trying to do everything for their child in such difficult circumstances are taken to court and have to contend with the weight of the whole system coming against them.”
Describing his little girl, Mr Gregory said: “Indi can definitely experience happiness. She cries like a normal baby. We know she is disabled but you don’t just let disabled people die. We just want to give her a chance.
“I and we as a family are prepared to do whatever it takes to fight for the life of our beautiful daughter, Indi.”
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has said it will “pause” shipments to the US as the British car firm works to “address the new trading terms” of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president has introduced a 25% levy on all foreign cars imported into the country, which came into force on Thursday.
JLR, one of the country’s biggest carmakers, exported about 38,000 cars to the US in the third quarter of 2024 – almost equal to the amount sold to the UK and the EU combined.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for the company behind the Jaguar, Land Rover and Range Rover brands said: “The USA is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands.
“As we work to address the new trading terms with our business partners, we are taking some short-term actions including a shipment pause in April, as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans.”
The company released a statement last week before Mr Trump announced a “baseline” 10% tariff on goods from around the world, which kicked in on Saturday morning, on what he called “liberation day”.
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JLR reassured customers its business was “resilient” and “accustomed to changing market conditions”.
“Our priorities now are delivering for our clients around the world and addressing these new US trading terms,” the firm said.
Trading across the world has been hit by Mr Trump’s tariff announcement at the White House on Wednesday.
All but one stock on the FTSE 100 fell on Friday – with Rolls-Royce, banks and miners among those to suffer the sharpest losses.
Cars are the top product exported from the UK to the US, with exports worth £8.3bn in the year to the end of September 2024, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
For UK carmakers, the US is the second largest export market behind the European Union.
Industry groups have previously warned the tariffs will force firms to rethink where they trade, while a report by thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research said more than 25,000 car manufacturing jobs in the UK could be at risk.
Two people have died following a fire at a caravan site near Skegness, Lincolnshire Police have said.
In a statement, officers said they were called at 3.53am on Saturday to a report of a blaze at Golden Beach Holiday Park in the village of Ingoldmells.
Fire and rescue crews attended the scene, and two people were found to have died.
They were reported to be a 10-year-old girl and a 48-year-old man.
The force said the victims’ next of kin have been informed and will be supported by specially trained officers.
Officers are trying to establish the exact cause of the blaze.
“We are at the very early stages of our investigation and as such we are keeping an open mind,” the force said.
A 15-year-old boy has died after “getting into difficulty” in a lake in southeast London, police say.
Officers and paramedics were called shortly after 3pm on Friday to Beckenham Place Park in Lewisham.
The Metropolitan Police said a boy “was recovered from the lake” at around 10.42pm the same day.
“He was taken to hospital where he was sadly pronounced dead. His death is being treated as unexpected but not believed to be suspicious,” according to the force.
The boy’s family has been told and are being supported by specialist officers.
The force originally said the child was 16 years old, but has since confirmed his age as 15.
In the earlier statement, officers said emergency services carried out a search and the park was evacuated.
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Image: Emergency teams were called to Beckenham Place Park on Friday afternoon
Beckenham Place Park, which borders the London borough of Bromley, covers around 240 acres, according to the park’s website.
The lake is described as 285 metres long, reaching depths of up to 3.5 metres.
It is designed as a swimming lake for open-water swimming and paddle boarding.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said on Friday: “We were called at 3.02pm this afternoon to reports of a person in the water.
“We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and members of our hazardous area response team.”
Emergency teams have not explained how the boy entered the water, or whether he was accompanied by others.