8 April – Archie is transferred to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London. 26 April – Barts Health Trust, which runs the Royal London Hospital, launches High Court proceedings over brainstem testing. Hollie Dance urges Ms Justice Arbuthnot not to approve brain stem tests to ‘give him [Archie] time to fight back.” 13 May – Mrs Justice Arbuthnot orders brainstem tests to be carried out 16 May – Two specialists at the Royal London Hospital try to do brainstem tests but are unable to as Archie fails to respond to the peripheral nerve stimulation test. May 25 – A hearing is held to decide if further MRIs should be done. Mrs. Dance and Paul Battersbee, Archie’s father, do not consent as they fear Archie’s move will cause him harm. May 27 – Court approves further MRI. May 31 – MRIs were done. June 6-8 – A court hearing was held to decide whether Archie’s life support treatment should continue. Experts say it is highly likely that Archie is ‘brain dead’ and that tests carried out showed no discernible brain activity, revealing ‘significant areas of tissue necrosis’. A doctor for the family tells the court he knows of cases where people diagnosed as dead on “neurological criteria” have been found to be alive. 13 June 2022 – Mrs Justice Arbuthnot rules that Archie is dead based on MRI results. “I find that Archie died at midday on Monday 31 May 2022, shortly after the MRIs were done that day,” he says. Archie’s family immediately says they will seek leave to appeal the decision. June 20 – The family appealed to the same judge, arguing that the evidence did not show “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the young man was dead. Ms Justice Arbuthnot agrees the family has a “compelling” case and the case is sent to the Court of Appeal. June 29 – Three Court of Appeal judges upheld the family’s appeal and ordered a new High Court hearing before a different judge. 11 July – The new hearing begins in the High Court before Mr Justice Hayden. Doctors treating Archie at the Royal London Hospital say continuing treatment will “delay the inevitable”. July 15 – Mr Justice Hayden concludes that doctors can legally stop providing life-support treatment, calling the medical evidence “compelling and unanimous”. He adds: “Unfortunately there are no treatments available to reverse the damage that has been done to Archie’s brain.” Once again, Archie’s family say they will appeal the decision. July 25 – Three Court of Appeal judges hear the appeal but uphold Mr Justice Hayden’s decision that the treatment can be ended as it is in Archie’s best interests. A stay is scheduled to continue Archie’s treatment until 2pm on July 27. July 27 – As the stay ends, Archie’s family have an extra 24 hours to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. However, they say the court has a “history” of rejecting cases like Archie’s and wants to go to the United Nations instead. They are applying to the Supreme Court to be allowed to appeal to the UN. July 28 – High Court judges refuse to intervene and uphold a Court of Appeal ruling that the Royal London Hospital can legally withdraw life-support treatment. July 29 – Archie’s family submits a petition to the UN, under a protocol that allows individuals and families to file complaints about violations of the rights of people with disabilities). 30 July – The United Nations asks the UK government’s legal department to have time to consider Archie’s case. July 31 – The UK government asks the High Court to delay the withdrawal of the treatment to give the United Nations time to consider the case. 1 August – A last-minute hearing was held at the request of the health secretary. Lawyers representing Archie’s parents say that if the withdrawal of life-support treatment is not delayed, the court will be “complicit” in a “flagrant breach of international law”. However, Court of Appeal judges are refusing to delay the withdrawal of life support, extending it only until midday on Tuesday 2 August. The country’s most senior family judge says the UN convention is a “non-conventional international treaty and is not part of British law” and that it is still in Archie’s best interests to stop treatment. August 2 – Archie’s parents are not allowed to appeal the latest decision to the High Court. Mrs Dance says Barts Health NHS Trust will start withdrawing Archie’s life support on August 3 at 11am unless the family has applied to the European Court of Human Rights by 9am. of that day. The trust will not begin removing life support until all legal issues are resolved. August 3 – The European Court of Human Rights rejects the latest application. Archie’s family say they plan to ask the High Court to allow the student to be moved to a hostel. August 4 – Almost four months after Archie suffered a traumatic head injury, his parents file formal High Court proceedings to move him into hospice care – which the hospital opposes. Archie’s care continues. A hearing takes place at the Crown Court in London, lasting late into the evening. 5 August – Mrs Justice Theis says it is not in Archie’s best interests to be moved to a hospice. The High Court judge refused the family permission to appeal her decision, granting a stay on the withdrawal of Archie’s treatment until 2pm on Friday to allow them to go straight to the Court of Appeal.
