A judge has ruled that a 12-year-old boy, who has been at the centre of a High Court treatment dispute after suffering brain damage, is dead.

Doctors treating Archie Battersbee at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, think the youngster is "brain-stem dead".

They said life-support treatment should end and Archie should be disconnected from a ventilator.

Archie's parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee, from Southend, Essex, say the youngster's heart is still beating and want treatment to continue.

Mrs Justice Arbuthnot on Monday ruled that Archie was dead and said doctors could lawfully stop treating him.

"I find that Archie died at noon on May 31 2022, which was shortly after the MRI scans taken that day," said the judge in a written ruling.

"I find that irreversible cessation of brain stem function has been conclusively established.

"I give permission to the medical professionals at the Royal London Hospital to cease to ventilate mechanically Archie Battersbee."