Parents of brain-damaged baby lose latest stage of life-support treatment fight at London's High court.

The parents of a brain-damaged baby who tried to breathe after being diagnosed as dead by doctors have lost the latest stage of a life-support treatment fight in London.

A High Court judge ruled that doctors could lawfully stop providing treatment on Wednesday after reconsidering evidence at a private High Court hearing in the capital.

Hospital bosses had asked Mr Justice Poole to decide what moves were in the best interests of the five-month-old boy.

The judge said the boy could not be identified in media reports of the case.

Specialists treating the boy, who is on a ventilator, say he has suffered a "catastrophic" brain injury, has "no prospect" of recovering and should be removed from the ventilator and given only palliative care.

But the boy's parents, who are Muslims and of Bangladeshi origin, had urged the judge to give him more time.

They wanted their son to have time to "make progress", or for "Allah to intervene".

Mr Justice Poole heard how the boy's parents had been interviewed by police after evidence suggested that he had suffered what "appeared" to be "non-accidental injuries" during the summer.

No charges had been brought - but the couple remained under investigation.

The boy's parents recently lost a High Court fight when another judge, Mr Justice Hayden, decided that treatment should end.

But Court of Appeal judges ordered a fresh trial after upholding an appeal by the boy's parents and concluding they had not had a fair hearing.

Mr Justice Poole oversaw a private hearing but allowed reporters to attend.

He said the case could be reported but ruled that neither the boy, who is in a specialist unit at a London hospital, nor doctors involved with his care could be identified in media coverage.

Lawyers representing bosses at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, who are responsible for the boy's care, had asked for decisions about what moves were in his best interests.

The boy's parents had represented themselves at the trial before Mr Justice Hayden.

They told appeal judges that Mr Justice Hayden should have adjourned the trial to give them time to find lawyers.

Appeal judges agreed and said Mr Justice Hayden's decision not to adjourn the trial was "unfair".

During the hearings, judges heard the boy was declared dead in June, after doctors diagnosed him as being brain stem dead.

He remained on a ventilator because his parents were unhappy with the diagnosis and litigation had begun.

Lawyers representing the trust initially asked a judge to make a declaration of death.

The boy started trying to breathe in early July, after a preliminary High Court hearing.

Specialists then rescinded "the clinical ascertainment of death" and trust lawyers asked Mr Justice Hayden to instead decide what moves were in the boy's best interests.

Judges heard that a series of brain stem tests had shown "no activity".

The baby had "gasped" and further tests showed there was brain stem activity in one respect.

A senior doctor involved in the baby's treatment said medics were trying to understand why he tried to breathe, after a series of brain-stem tests showed that he was dead.

The doctor told Mr Justice Poole that research had revealed a "few" other similar cases internationally.

She said evidence showed that other patients had not survived.