High Court judge asks Charlie Gard's parents for new evidence
The father of the terminally ill baby yells at a barrister representing Great Ormond Street Hospital during a High Court hearing.
Monday 10 July 2017 23:04, UK
A High Court judge has asked Charlie Gard's parents to outline any new evidence they have after Connie Yates pleaded with him to "please listen to us".
Charlie's father Chris yelled across the court room at a barrister, demanding: "When are you going to start telling the truth?"
Both parents interrupted proceedings and aired concerns about their son's case directly to Mr Justice Francis.
He told them he wanted to know what had changed with the 11-month-old's condition and said he would make decisions on the basis of "clear evidence".
"I will hear new evidence. I am not going to rake over facts," the judge said, adding he would analyse the case "calmly and fairly".
Grant Armstrong, representing Charlie's parents, said there was "encouraging" evidence from researchers at the Vatican's children's hospital about an experimental treatment.
However, lawyers representing Great Ormond Street Hospital and a guardian appointed to independently represent Charlie's interests told Mr Justice Francis they were struggling to find any new evidence.
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Following the hearing, Gard family spokesman Alasdair Seton-Marsden, said: "If Charlie is still fighting, (his parents) are still fighting."
Earlier, Ms Yates told Sky News that the experimental treatment could be a "miracle" for her son.
She said that if the medication works Charlie "could potentially be a normal boy again".
"There are 18 children currently on this treatment - one of them wasn't able to do anything and now she's riding a bike," she said.
Ms Yates added that she hoped judges would listen to experts and "give us a chance".
She said: "We're not saying Great Ormond Street is a bad hospital but they don't have a specialist for his particular condition.
"We don't see what's dignified about him dying - we think it's dignified that he has a chance at life and if it doesn't work then we'll let him go."
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Dr Trevor Stammers, lecturer in bioethics and medical law at St Mary's University, told Sky News the Vatican's evidence has to prove the experimental treatment has "some chance of conferring benefit".
He said: "It seems that if he remains at Great Ormond Street it seems that almost certainly his life support will be withdrawn and clearly he is likely then to die.
"I agree that if there is even a small chance on the basis of this evidence then the presumption and legal precedent on these cases is that the judgment ought to be given in favour of preserving and prolonging life - but we don't know precisely what the nature of that evidence is yet."
Meanwhile, Conservative Woman writer Caroline Farrow said the claims of Charlie's parents are "not fundamentally outrageous or unreasonable".
She told Sky News: "The case is so finely balanced you could argue it either way. In this case, the wishes of the parents ought to be respected."
Charlie suffers from mitochondrial disease and has brain damage. His parents want him to undergo an experimental treatment in the US or Italy.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for his treatment has so far raised more than £1.3m.
Great Ormond Street doctors say the nucleoside therapy would not help him and life support should be stopped.
The hearing continues on Thursday.