Parents battling to keep their baby son alive have lost their fight after a judge ruled the boy should be allowed to die - and gave medics the right to stop his treatment.

The parents of the nine-month old, who is known as OT, had until 2pm today to appeal against the decision, which was handed down by Mrs Justice Parker yesterday after a 10-day hearing.

The couple, who had pleaded with doctors to do everything in their power to keep the baby alive as long as he is not in intolerable pain, were said to be devastated by the ruling.

Christopher Cuddihee, Mr and Mrs T’s solicitor, said: “My clients love their son deeply. They accept their son is seriously disabled and at the moment is very ill. But they do not accept the court’s finding that as a result of medical treatment he suffers intolerable pain and suffering."

Baby OT suffers from a rare metabolic disorder and has brain damage and major respiratory failure. He has been on a ventilator since he was three weeks old and is not able to breathe unaided. His parents do not believe medical treatment is futile and are considering goint to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision to turn off their son’s ventilator.

The hospital trust where the baby is being treated, which cannot be named for legal reasons, say he has no possibility of recovery and is in unbearable pain. One doctor at the hospital said keeping him alive amounted to “torture”.

Mrs Justice Parker rejected the couple’s claims that stopping treatment would breach the baby’s “right to life” under the European Convention on Human Rights.

She said: "I bear in mind that OT is a unique human being. His life is valuable. But OT does not have the right to be kept alive in all circumstances. OT has the right to life. OT does not have the right to be kept alive."

The judge said it was a "desperately sad and anguished case" and she could not begin to image what his "loving and devoted parents are going through".

She put a temporary stay on the order, which gave the parents until 2pm today to get the decision overturned.

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