A DESPERATELY ill Liverpool grandad at the centre of a "right to life" court battle between doctors and family members has died.

Dad-of-three David James passed away in his hospital bed in the early hours of New Year’s Eve with his devoted family by his bedside.

His son Paul said his dad’s heart had stopped beating.

The family are devastated and bitter that medics went to court over the 68-year-old’s care. He lost his fight for life just over a week after the hospital trust won an appeal giving staff the right to withhold treatment.

Paul, 37, said: "It’s been absolutely horrendous at what was already a difficult time.

"And what gets me is that with this court case, all that’s been discussed, nothing has ever been brought up about why he ended up in that situation. And what led to his deterioration. That’s been pushed under the carpet.

"We’ve still got questions that need answers and we’re not going to stop."

Mr James, who had brain and kidney damage, was well known on the Liverpool music circuit as a guitarist and had a hit record with a band called Candlewick Green.

Earlier in December the hospital where Mr James was being cared for – it cannot be named for legal reasons – went to court to try to get a judge to back their wish to withhold treatment should his condition deteriorate.

His family – led by his wife of 50 years May, 67 – initially successfully blocked doctors’ moves.

The hospital did not want to resuscitate him if he suffered a cardiac arrest or give him invasive support for low blood pressure or kidney failure if his condition worsened, claiming to do so would be "overly burdensome" and "futile".