Alfie Evans: Court sets date for toddler's life support to end

Image copyright Family handout

A date to switch off the life support for a seriously ill toddler at the centre of a legal battle has been set by a High Court judge.

In February the High Court ruled Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital could stop treating 23-month-old Alfie Evans.

The details of when it will happen cannot be reported for legal reasons.

Alfie's parents' legal fight to appeal against the decision ended in March when the European Court for Human Rights rejected their case.

Alfie has been at Alder Hey since December 2016 with an undiagnosed degenerative brain disease.

His parents, Kate James and Tom Evans, from Bootle in Merseyside, wanted doctors to take him abroad to the Vatican-linked Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital in Rome for a diagnosis and treatment which may have prolonged his life.

Mr Justice Hayden said when he made his High Court ruling in February he accepted medical evidence that showed further treatment was "futile".

He said: "Alfie's need now is for good quality palliative care."