Inquest into the death of Archie Battersbee starts today

An inquest will begin later into the death of a 12-year-old boy from Essex who was at the centre of a lengthy legal battle to stop his life support being switched off.

Archie Battersbee was found unconscious at his home in April last year.

An inquest into his death will start at the Essex Coroner's office this morning.

What happened to Archie Battersbee?

On April 7 2022, Archie was found by his mother, Hollie Dance, at her home in Southend and rushed to hospital with brain damage.

After almost a month, Archie had still not regained consciousness and doctors at the Royal London Hospital started High Court proceedings to undertake a test of the brain stem and withdraw mechanical ventilation.

Doctors said it was "highly likely" the 12-year-old was effectively dead and it was in his best interests to have his life support switched off.

Lawyers representing Archie's family, including his dad Paul Battersbee, said his heart was still beating and they wanted care to continue.

The High Court ruled Archie was dead and agreed to let doctors withdraw treatment, but Archie's parents appealed the decision.

What followed was a legal battle in which the 12-year-old's family attempted to get both the Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights involved.

Eventually, it was ruled that Archie's life support would be withdrawn and at 10am on August 6 2020 life support was withdrawn.

Archie tragically died at 12.15pm on August 6 2020.

His mother Hollie said she was "the proudest mum in the world", adding: "he was such a beautiful little boy and he fought right until the very end, and I am so proud to be his mum.”

The inquest

Six months on and a full inquest will now look at the circumstances surrounding the schoolboy's death. 

The hearing is expected to last two days and the family hope it will bring attention to the issue of online safety.

Essex’s senior coroner Lincoln Brookes said at a preliminary inquest hearing in November last year, he had seen no evidence that Archie was taking part in any online blackout challenge but had been told that police found messages on the youngster’s phone reflecting “very low mood”.

At the outset of the hearing, Mr Brookes told them: “May I offer my deepest condolences to the both of you and to the many members of Archie’s family who can’t be here today.”

He said the topics that the full inquest will cover will include Archie’s medical cause of death and his “state of mind and his intentions on April 7 2022”.

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