A judge at the High Court in London last week refused to rule that an 18 month old boy with type 1 spinal muscular atrophy be allowed to die, against the unanimous opinion of medical experts involved in the case.

Mr Justice Holman ruled that it would not be in the best interests of the boy, named only by his initials MB, to be taken off the ventilator that is keeping him alive.

The case is the first in which a trust has sought a declaration that life support for a child who is assumed to have normal cognitive functioning should be …