Another high court hearing over the care of Indi Gregory due

The 8 month old from Ilkeston is critically ill an on life support at Nottingham's QMC

Author: Brian Farmer, PAPublished 7th Nov 2023

A High Court judge is to oversee another hearing about the care of a critically ill baby at the centre of a life-support treatment fight.

Mr Justice Peel is to consider further issues relating to eight-month-old Indi Gregory at a private online hearing in the Family Division of the High Court on Tuesday.

He has already ruled that specialists treating Indi at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham can lawfully limit treatment, after concluding that such a move would be in Indi's best interests.

Indi's parents Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, who are in their 30s and from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, want treatment to continue.

But they have failed to persuade Court of Appeal judges and judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, to overturn Mr Justice Peel's treatment decision.

The couple have also failed in a bid to transfer Indi to a hospital in Rome.

Mr Justice Peel ruled that a move to Italy would not be in Indi's best interests and Court of Appeal judges backed that decision.

Indi's parents are supported by campaign group Christian Concern and its sister organisation, the Christian Legal Centre.

A Christian Concern spokesman said Mr Justice Peel would on Tuesday consider issues relating to where doctors would withdraw life-support treatment.

He said Indi's parents wanted to take her home.

Judges have heard that Indi, who was born on February 24, has mitochondrial disease - a genetic condition that saps energy.

Specialists say she is dying and bosses at the hospital asked for a ruling that doctors could lawfully limit treatment.

Medics say the treatment Indi receives causes pain and is futile.

Her parents disagree.

Mr Justice Peel has considered evidence at private hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London.

He has allowed journalists to attend and said Indi could be identified in reports.