Judge to rule on naming of woman who died after refusing kidney treatment

A judge is expected to decide whether the identity of a 50-year-old woman who has died after refusing life-saving kidney treatment should be revealed.

The woman - who said she had lost her "sparkle" and did not want to grow old - hit the headlines when she was at the centre of litigation in the Court of Protection, where issues relating to sick and vulnerable people are analysed.

Hospital bosses had asked a judge to decide whether she had the mental capacity to make the decision to refuse treatment. Mr Justice MacDonald concluded that she did after analysing evidence at a hearing in London.

He ruled that the woman's identity should not be made public while she was alive - although he said the London-based King's College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which asked for the ruling, could be named.

Lawyers representing one of the woman's daughters say she also wanted to remain anonymous in death, to protect her relatives' human rights to private and family life.

Late on Wednesday another judge made an order saying the woman's identity should remain secret until the issue could be fully debated at a further Court of Protection hearing, likely to take place in the next week in London.

Mrs Justice Theis analysed competing arguments from lawyers representing the woman's daughter and the Daily Mail over the telephone before deciding to make a holding order.