By James Simons-
Tragic Archie Battersbee’s was informed on a voice note found on his mobile phone four days before he was found unconscious that his mother wanted him to be an abortion, an inquest heard.
The details of the voice note had never been made public prior to the inquest.
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A detective also told the inquest that no images or videos of Archie taking part in online challenges or with items around his head or neck were found on his phone.
Members of the young boy’s family told the hearing in Chelmsford that they saw no signs of low mood and did not believe he would try to harm himself.
The 12-year-old’s life support was withdrawn on August 6 2022 after his parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, failed in bids to overturn a High Court ruling that doctors could lawfully do so.
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His parents fought hard to keep his life support machine on, going as far as taking their case to the Supreme Court, and attempting to involve the EU Court on the controversial case.
Ms Dance found Archie unconscious with a ligature over his head at home in Southend, Essex, on April 7 last year.
Detective Sergeant Tiffany Gore told the inquest that a voice note dated April 3 was found on Archie’s phone when officers looked at it.
The officer said that the audio, in a young male voice, said: “Oi Archie, do you know why you’re angry?
“Because your mum wanted you to be an abortion.”
She said that a second audio note on the same date said: “You and your mum are the ones sat there all night using.”
The officer said there was also a “heated exchange” on February 15 2022 with a “number of voice notes” in a second young male voice.
Essex’s senior coroner Lincoln Brookes said: “One could characterise it as a heated exchange of bravado where each are threatening and saying they know someone who could harm (the other).”
Ms Gore said police recovered 695 images and 282 videos from Archie’s phone.
She said that none of these showed Archie with anything around his head or neck, or participating in any challenges.
Archie Battersbee’s inquest also heard that he was “on the brink of death” for months, and his condition was not survivable. Dr Malik Ramadhan of the Barts Health NHS Trust said that surgery would “not have been appropriate” to try and treat the Essex youngster’s severe brain injury.
The inquest into the 12-year-old Southend boy’s death continued at Essex Coroner’s Court today (February 8) with Dr Ramadhan giving an overview of the care he received at the Royal London Hospital. Archie was at the centre of a huge legal case after he was found unresponsive at his home.
He was taken to Southend Hospital and then the Royal London. Doctors eventually concluded it was in his best interests to turn off life support, but his family disagreed. Following months of appeals and hearings, Archie’s life support was withdrawn on August 6, after a final High Court ruling that it was not in his best interests to continue receiving life-sustaining treatment, as he had been declared brain-stem dead.
Dr Ramadhan, who was not a treating clinician of Archie’s told the inquest that tests were carried out including electrical scans of Archie’s brain to see if they could get any response.
He said: “It showed he had no electrical activity. Music was played to see if there was any response to stimulation, with his mother with him. There was no response to any outside stimulation. There was no coughing or breathing when on the ventilator. This was not a survivable injury and there was a process to conclude if that was the case or not, and at the end of that process we withdrew the care and he died in August.”
Coroner Brookes confirmed to the court that the direction to withdraw care was made by the High Court. A medical cause of death was recorded as a catastrophic hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. Dr Ramadhan confirmed he believed that to be the most likely cause on the balance of probabilities.
The family of Archie Battersbee including father Paul Battersbee (left) and mother Hollie Dance (second right) arrive for the inquest into the death of Archie Battersbee, at Essex Coroner’s Court in Chelmsford
Dr Ramadhan said that Archie was on “the brink of death” when he arrived at Southend Hospital, and remained that way for months. He detailed how a hypoxic brain injury like Archie’s meant the entire brain was affected – making surgery difficult.
He said: “The conclusion was – and the literature would support this – that surgery would not be appropriate.” When asked by the coroner if surgery would have made Archie worse, Dr Ramadhan said there would be no “therapeutic” benefit and that “it would make onward care very problematic”.
When asked to give his opinion on Archie’s condition, Dr Ramadhan said: “Archie was on the brink of death when he was in Southend and remained on the brink of death for the next four months and was kept alive by completely artificial means.” He added that the condition was not survivable.
Jonathan Dingle, representing Archie’s family, has asked a few questions to Dr Ramadhan, but stated that the family were very grateful for all the care and compassion shown to Archie during his time with them, “even if they disagreed in the courts” and asked for it to be passed onto his team. Dr Ramadhan said he would, and offered his “sincere condolences” to the family.
The inquest continues.
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