Leonard Arthur

Who was Leonard Arthur?

Dr Leonard John Henry Arthur MB, BChir, MRCP, D Obst RCOG was a British doctor tried in 1981 for the attempted murder of John Pearson, a newborn baby with Down Syndrome. He was acquitted.

An important test case, the trial brought to public attention the dilemmas for doctors in treating severely disabled newborn babies. Dr Arthur felt strongly that doctors should always act in the best interests of the baby, with the full support of the parents. In some cases this meant not prolonging the baby’s life, in order to prevent future suffering. Opinion polls taken at the time of the trial indicated huge public support for Dr Arthur’s approach. The outcome of the trial confirmed that ‘nursing care only’ is an acceptable form of treatment, and that administering a drug to relieve suffering is not an offence, even if it accelerates death. Ambiguities remain, however, about what is legally permissible in the treatment of disabled babies: if a doctor or anyone else intentionally kills a child, however disadvantaged, this would still be considered to be murder.