Isaiah Haastrup: European judges reject appeal over life-support

Isaiah, pictured with an aunt, suffered "catastrophic" brain damage due to being deprived of oxygen at birth

An appeal by the parents of a brain-damaged baby who has been at the centre of a life-support treatment dispute has been dismissed by European judges.

Isaiah Haastrup's parents had asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to intervene after losing two court battles in the UK.

Takesha Thomas and Lanre Haastrup want life-support treatment to continue but doctors believe it would be "futile".

An ECHR spokesman said the application had been declared "inadmissible".

Twelve-month-old Isaiah is being treated by at King's College Hospital in London where specialists have said providing further intensive care treatment was not in his best interests.

Lanre Haastrup and Takesha Thomas do not want their son's life-support treatment to be stopped

The baby suffered "catastrophic" brain damage due to being deprived of oxygen at birth, a previous hearing was told.

Doctors said Isaiah was in a low level of consciousness, could not move or breathe independently and was connected to a ventilator.

His parents, from Peckham, south-east London, made a written application to the ECHR after a High Court judge gave doctors permission to provide only palliative care and three Court of Appeal judges backed the ruling.

The ECHR said judges had treated the case as an "urgent matter".

"In the light of all the material in its possession... the court found that they did not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the convention or its protocols," the spokesman said.