A distraught father whose three-year-olddaughter died after receiving massive levels of potassium while in hospital is fighting for legal aid to try to find out just what led to her tragic death.

Naazish Farooq died in October 1999 when she was being treated for cancer as an in-patient at St James's Hospital, Leeds.

Tests later showed an unusually high concentration of potassium in her body.

Her death sparked a police investigation - during which her family had to endure the anguish of her body being exhumed for tests - but no criminal charges were ever brought.

The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust admitted liability for her death a year ago, but a full inquest into the youngster's death has yet to be held.

Her father, Mohammed Farooq Khan, of St Margaret's Place, Great Horton, has been refused legal funding by the Department of Health so he can be represented by lawyers at the inquest which is due to last five days.

And now he is challenging that decision at London's High Court where top judge, Mr Justice Lightman, adjourned the case until April 10 for a hearing expected to last two days.

The grieving father's counsel, Mr Philip Havers QC, told the court in his written submissions that the denial of legal funding amounted to a violation of his fundamental human rights.

He said Naazish, who was being maintained on a life support machine in the hospital's intensive care unit, was "plainly in the state's care," as she was being treated in an NHS hospital.

Mr Havers told the court: "The ad-ministration of the grossly abnormal quantity of potassium by the hospital staff was, of itself, also bound to put her life at immediate and grave risk."

The "grossly excessive quantity" of potassium was "no mere error of judgement" but was described by an expert consulted by police during the investigation as "grossly negligent".

The police inquiries and the NHS Trust's admission of liability did not mean that the circumstances of Naazish's death had been fully investigated, the barrister argued.

He said there had been five internal NHS investigations into the death, but Mr Khan and his family had been given no opportunity to participate in them and they only recently found out they had even taken place.

Mr Havers added: "Furthermore, none of these investigations appear to have investigated the apparent attempt to 'cover up' the true circumstances of the deceased's death."

He said that blood gas tests carried out shortly before Naazish died had revealed "astonishingly high" potassium readings of 18.9 and 13.4 when the normal therapeutic level was three, and nine to ten would be enough to kill.

But the youngster's cause of death was recorded as cardio respiratory attack and B Cell Lymphoma and nothing was said to the Coroner's officer before the girl's body was released for burial, claimed Mr Havers.

He said the family fell "just on the wrong side" of the line for legal aid funding and the costs of paying for lawyers to represent them at the inquest was "way beyond this family's means."

The only potential source of funding was the Department of Health.