Charlie Gard: Terminally ill baby to move to hospice where he will 'inevitably' die, says judge

Charlie Gard is to be moved to a hospice where his life support will be switched off and he will "inevitably" die, a High Court judge has said.

The terminally ill baby, who would have turned one next week, is likely to pass away soon after artificial ventilation is removed.

His parents Chris Gard and Connie Yates originally wanted their son to die at home, but later said they accepted Charlie could die in a hospice, and asked the judge to let them pay for a private medical team to oversee his final hours.

Baby Charlie, who has a rare genetic disease, was at the centre of a legal battle that polarised opinion around the world as his parents fought to take him to the US for experimental treatment.

But they ended court proceedings after more than five months when new medical tests showed the infant had suffered irreversible muscular damage, meaning the new therapy was doomed to failure.

Mr Gard and Ms Yates pleaded with judge Nicholas Francis to let them spend days with their son before his life support was removed, but Great Ormond Street Hospital argued it was not in his best interests to spend a long period under palliative care.

Mr Justice Francis has formally approved an end-of-life plan for Baby Charlie, which is detailed in a confidential document. The 11-month-old will be kept on life support at the children's hospital before being moved to the hospice.

His ruling said "it shall be lawful for artificial ventilation to be withdrawn" after a specified time period, which is unknown but may be in a number of hours.

Charlie, born on 4 August 2016, inherited the faulty RRM2B gene that affects the cells responsible for energy production and respiration, leaving him unable to move or breathe without a ventilator.

The case caused an international furore, with both Donald Trump and Pope Francis offering to help the sick baby.

US lawmakers passed an amendment to grant Charlie permanent residency in America so he could fly there for treatment, while activists including controversial evangelical pastor Patrick Mahoney travelled to London to campaign on behalf of the parents.

The new scan on Charlie’s muscles had been requested by US neuroscientist Michio Hirano, who was offering to give Charlie nucleoside therapy. Dr Hirano travelled from New York to London to examine the baby.