Indi Gregory: Critically ill baby dies after life support turned off

Indi Gregory had mitochondrial disease, which prevents cells in the body producing energy

A critically ill baby at the centre of a legal battle has died after her life support was turned off.

Staff at the Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham said they could do no more for Indi Gregory, who had mitochondrial disease.

Her dad, Dean Gregory, said the eight-month-old baby died at 01:45 GMT on Monday after she was taken to a hospice.

He said her mum, Claire Staniforth, "held her for her final breaths".

The hospice transfer followed a ruling made by Court of Appeal judges on Friday that her life support could not be removed at her home.

"Indi's life ended at 01:45. Claire and I are angry, heartbroken and ashamed," Mr Gregory said.

"The NHS and the courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi's dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged."

Indi was being cared for at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre

Christian Concern, which has been supporting the family, said they understood that Indi was transferred to a hospice on Saturday by ambulance with a security escort.

They said she was relaxed and slept during the journey.

Her life support was removed at the hospice and she was provided with further ventilation.

Mr Gregory said he knew Indi "was special from the day she was born".

A spokesperson for Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, which runs the QMC, said: "We are all deeply saddened by the death of Indi and wish to express our heartfelt condolences to her family at this terribly difficult time.

"This has been a very long and challenging journey for Indi, her parents and everyone involved and we will all be holding them in our thoughts."

Legal battle

Over the past several months, Indi's parents, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, have launched a number of legal challenges in a bid to prolong their daughter's life.

Indi had mitochondrial disease, which prevents cells in the body producing energy and the NHS says the condition is incurable.

Supported by the Christian Legal Centre - an organisation linked to Christian Concern - the family has tried to convince High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights judges that she should continue to receive care.

Specialists said she was dying and the treatment she was receiving caused pain and was futile, but her parents disagreed.

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