by Lamiat Sabin

A FATHER was forced to spend £2,000 that he had saved for his critically ill son’s funeral on a court battle with hospital bosses due to legal aid cuts, it was revealed yesterday.

The man, whose 18-year-old son was refused more chemotherapy for a brain tumour, has been fighting for doctors to continue treating him.

In February, a judge gave the medics permission to stop treatment at a hearing in the Court of Protection.

Doctors told Ms Justice Hogg that they feared that the teenager, from the south of England, had less than two weeks to live and claimed that “active treatment” was “futile.”

But the parents — who, as well as their son and the hospital trust, cannot be identified — disagreed and asked Ms Hogg to rule that chemotherapy should continue.

“It’s just seems you want him to die. The sooner the better,” his mother had told one doctor at the eight-hour hearing.

However, the cancer sufferer is still alive and has “surpassed all expectations,” judges were told in subsequent sessions.

The father has been granted legal aid but only after making a £2,000 contribution, said a family source. He also had to rely on pro-bono lawyers to represent him for free.

More than 620,000 people have been deprived of fair access to justice since legal aid cuts were made by the Conservative-led coalition since 2010.

Steve Hynes, director of Legal Action Group, told the Star that the “grossly unfair” case is “typical” of those who find themselves having “fallen out of entitlement for legal aid.”

“It is not right for people to rely on pro-bono lawyers when the life or death of their child can hang on it like that,” he added.

Another source close to the family said: “The problem [the father] had with legal aid is related to his savings not his earnings.”

Legal Action Group are pushing the government to make means testing the same as for claiming benefits, as it does not usually penalise people with savings of less than £16,000.

Lawyers are expected to outline the latest developments at another Court of Protection hearing in London today.