Indi Gregory: Critically ill baby girl is dying, judge told

Indi Gregory was born with mitochondrial disease

A critically ill baby girl at the centre of a life support treatment case is dying, a doctor has told a High Court judge.

Indi Gregory has mitochondrial disease and is being cared for at the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham.

The hospital said it could do no more for her and has applied to the High Court to end her treatment.

But Indi's father told court on Monday the doctors were painting a "wrongly pessimistic" picture of her condition.

A doctor on Monday told Mr Justice Peel of the "terrible reality" facing the seven-month-old baby.

Indi's parents Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, want treatment to continue.

Indi's father Dean Gregory, 37, from Ilkeston in Derbyshire, outside the Royal Courts of Justice, in central London in September

The judge is considering evidence behind closed doors, but has allowed journalists to attend the hearing and ruled Indi, her parents, and the hospital can be named in reports.

He ruled medics treating Indi - and a guardian appointed to represent her interests - could not be named.

The doctor told the judge that keeping Indi on a ventilator would "prolong matters".

He said staff treating Indi had done the best they could and were "very sad".

"She is a little girl we have tried to treat to the best of our abilities," the doctor said.

"The terrible reality is that she is dying."

Lawyers for Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust argue the life-sustaining treatment is causing Indi pain

The specialist described himself as an "expert" in the treatment of seriously ill children.

He said Indi's case was "really difficult", adding that on one day, Indi had "nine episodes of resuscitation to keep her alive".

Bosses at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who have responsibility for Indi's care, have asked the judge to rule on the case.

Mitochondrial disease prevents cells in the body producing energy and the NHS says the condition is incurable.

Barrister Emma Sutton KC, who is leading the trust's legal team, has told the judge that Indi is "critically" ill.

She said Indi had a "devastating neurometabolic disorder", which was "exceptionally rare".

'Pessimistic and bleak'

However, Mr Gregory believes Indi "does enjoy life", the judge heard.

He said he did not think his daughter was in pain, and said: "We are there every day.

"If I thought she was in pain, I would not be here arguing.

"You have only got one life. You have to go through a little bit of pain to carry on with that life."

Barrister Bruno Quintavalle, who is representing Indi's parents, told the court the baby "interacts with films on the iPad".

"[Mr Gregory] would not wish Indi to be exposed to unnecessary suffering or to a burdensome existence but believes the picture being painted of her life is wrongly pessimistic and bleak," he said.