High Court judge to visit Archie Battersbee in hospital

Doctors treating Archie Battersbee at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, think it “highly likely” he is dead and say life-support treatment should end.

Archie’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend, Essex, disagree.

“He needs more time. He has made some progress and he just needs a little more time,” Ms Dance told BBC Radio Essex.

Fighting - Archie's mother Hollie Dance

“If you are on death row up on a murder charge you would have got longer than Archie’s been given, and this is a 12-year-old innocent boy who has been injured, give him a chance.”

Addressing the judge’s imminent visit to hospital, Ms Dance said: “From what I can make out, I’m not really allowed to have a conversation with her. I just hope she can just see for herself that he is in a better place than what has been said in court.”

Ms Dance, who has been keeping vigil at Archie’s hospital bedside, added: “I am absolutely terrified about the visit as I believe Archie is in there and he just needs time.”

Court battle - Father Paul Battersbee

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot, who is overseeing Archie’s case at private hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London, will visit the youngster today ahead of a final hearing on June 6 and 7.

Lawyers representing hospital bosses asked her, at the latest hearing on Wednesday, to consider whether more tests should carried out before the final hearing.

Loved - Archie

The judge indicated she would make a decision about whether more tests were needed today.

A barrister leading a legal team representing the Royal London Hospital’s governing trust, Barts Health NHS Trust, told the judge on Wednesday how specialists thought Archie had been “extensively investigated”, but were prepared to carry out further tests for “the sake of no stone being left unturned”.

The judge has heard that Archie suffered brain damage in an incident at home in early April.

Miss Dance has told how she found Archie unconscious with a ligature over his head on April 7 and thinks he might have been taking part in an online challenge.

The youngster has not regained consciousness.