A profoundly brain damaged 3 year old boy in foster care should not be given life prolonging treatment when his condition deteriorates, despite the wishes of his birth mother, a High Court judge has ruled.

The boy, named only as KH, has been in local authority care since shortly after birth and lives with foster parents. His younger sibling is also in care.

Neither birth parent has the mental capacity to take decisions about medical treatment. But the unnamed NHS trust caring for the boy in the north of England took the case to court when his mother objected to parts of the advance care plan being drawn up for her son.

K contracted viral encephalitis when he was 5 weeks …