Brain-damaged toddler Alfie Evans cuddles his mother Kate James at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, England. Photo / AP
Brain-damaged toddler Alfie Evans cuddles his mother Kate James at Alder Hey Hospital, Liverpool, England. Photo / AP
The father of Alfie Evans, the critically ill child at the centre of a bitter life-support dispute, threatened to take out a private prosecution for murder against doctors treating his son, it has emerged.
The Appeal Court heard today that Tom Evans had talked of taking out the private prosecutionsagainst three doctors for "conspiracy for murder," the Daily Telegraph reports.
Justice Hayden decided at a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in Manchester, that Alfie should not be allowed to leave Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool and travel to a hospital in Italy.
In his ruling Justice Hayden criticised what he described as the "malign hand" of one of the family's advisers, law student Pavel Stroilov, who had been party to Evans lodging a private prosecution of doctors at Alder Hey Hospital.
Today, Alfie's parents lost the latest round of their legal battle, when three Court of Appeal judges dismissed their appeal against the decision that the child should not be taken abroad for treatment.
Lord Justice McFarlane told Evans's barrister, Paul Diamond at the Appeal Court hearing: "Your client purported to take out a private prosecution to have three named doctors charged with the criminal offence of conspiracy to murder.
"Those summonses were served on the doctors and I hear you say that there is no hostility to the NHS."
Merseyside Police warned that any threats or malicious comments made on social media against staff at Alder Hey would be investigated and could lead to prosecutions.
Chief Inspector Chris Gibson said: "I would like to make people aware that these posts are being monitored and remind social media users that any offences including malicious communications and threatening behaviour will be investigated and where necessary will be acted upon."
It came as it emerged that 23-month-old Alfie, who stopped receiving life-support treatment on Tuesday as a result of the court's decision, is now "struggling" and is not expected to live much longer.
Evans and his wife Kate James, from Liverpool, were appealing against Justice Hayden's ruling preventing their son being taken to Rome's Bambino Gesu Hospital for continued treatment.
Justice Hayden had said he accepted medical evidence which showed that further treatment was futile and that flying Alfie to a foreign hospital would be wrong and pointless.
Tom Evans and Kate James, the parents of seriously ill Alfie Evans, in England. Photo / AP
At today's appeal against the ruling Diamond told three senior appeal court judges that an Italian embassy representative was in court and an air ambulance was on standby at the "request of the Pope".
He added: "My general conversation with Mr Evans is 'save my boy'. He would leave no stone unturned... He is clutching at straws."
At the same time two people believed to be German air ambulance staff who had been seen speaking to members of the Evans family were escorted from Alder Hey by police.
Evans said his son had confounded specialists' expectations by continuing to breathe.
In a live video posted on Facebook he said Alfie's life had been "sustained" for a third time.
"The warrior strikes again. He's back. He's just had a little dip, he went pale, lips started going a little bit but he's back. Just wanted everyone to know Alfie's stabilised," said Evans.
James is now represented by Jason Coppel QC, a different barrister from Alfie's father, and the appeal judges heard from her that the toddler was "struggling".
Coppel said he had just spoken to James by telephone and said: "The purpose of the phone call was to say that Alfie was struggling and needed immediate intervention to ensure that he survives at least for the purposes of today and she asked me if I would pass that on to the court and ask that the court invite the hospital to take the appropriate steps."
Appeal judge Lady Justice King disagreed that there was any prospect of Alfie having any pleasure or appreciation of life.
She said evidence showed that, while Alfie was unlikely to feel pain, "tragically everything that would allow him to have some appreciation of life, or even the mere touch of his mother, has been destroyed irrevocably".
A doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that for Alfie to be allowed home would require a "sea change" in attitude from the child's family.
Alfie has been in Alder Hey with a rare undiagnosed degenerative neurological condition since December 2016
