LESS than a week after a judge ruled that Charlotte Wyatt must be left to die when she next stops breathing, the fate of another desperately ill baby is being decided in the High Court.

Luke Winston-Jones, nine months, was born with Edwards’s syndrome, a complex chromosome abnormality. Although not painful in itself, the associated conditions can be. Babies rarely survive more than a few months. Medical staff at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, where the baby is being treated, believe that it is in his best interests not to resuscitate him if his condition deteriorates. But Ruth Winston-Jones, 35, his mother, is adamant that medical staff must continue to do all they can to keep Luke alive.

Legal experts are concerned that another high-profile right-to-die case could make many parents more inclined to challenge medical authority over the treatment of their children.

Bertie Leigh, a senior medical lawyer, said: “There is nothing about this sort of justice that I think is best done in public, I’m surprised there is a second public case so soon after Charlotte Wyatt.

“Inevitably, these cases create a fashion of their own. Perhaps it could lead to more cases heard in public and maybe this will make parents more inclined to challenge doctors’ views.”

Luke has spent most of his life in hospital and the outlook is said to be “extremely poor”, with fewer than 10 per cent of babies born with the condition surviving their first birthday.

The Royal Liverpool Children’s NHS Trust, responsible for Alder Hey Hospital, and the North West Wales NHS Trust made a joint application to the Family Division of the High Court. At a preliminary hearing yesterday afternoon they asked the court to determine the course of treatment “in the best interests” of the child.

The full hearing lays out what the hospital calls a “real ethical dilemma”. It will take place next Thursday in London before Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss and is scheduled to last two days.

Jacqui Kirkwood, Mrs Winston-Jones’s sister, said that the family would contest the application to its conclusion. “Ruth is taking it very badly and is very upset by this decision,” she said, “but Luke has never given up on us so we will not give up on him. We will fight every step of the way.”

Mrs Winston-Jones, from Holyhead, North Wales, who is separated and has two other children, Andrew, 12, and Sophie, 7, has insisted previously that she would treat Luke at home if a court order to withdraw hospital treatment were granted.

Luke, who was born with three holes in his heart, has spent most of his life in Gwynedd Hospital, Bangor. In July the hospital administration prepared to go to the High Court for direction on how to treat Luke, but withdrew the action at the last minute. At the time Mrs Winston-Jones accused health officials of playing God with the life of her child. He was transferred to Alder Hey last week.

Mrs Winston-Jones said: “He should be given the chance to live. He has proved he is a fighter. How can they think of destroying a life and sending him to the grave?”

Edwards syndrome, also known as Trisomy 18, is a debilitating condition. Babies born with the disease may have growth deficiency, low-set and malformed ears, clenched hands, bone abnormalities, hernias, skin mottling, heart defects, feeding and breathing problems in infancy and learning disabilities.

Yesterday Mrs Winston-Jones made an impassioned plea for the public to rally behind her campaign. She told the BBC: “Luke is a beautiful little boy who has grown against all the odds. Please help me keep my little Luke alive. He is doing it on his own.”

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