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Parents of Ashya questioned by British police in Spain (1 September 2014)

Date: 01/09/2014
Duncan Lewis, Child Care Solicitors, Parents of Ashya questioned by British police in Spain

The grandmother of five-year-old Ashya King – whose parents have taken him to Spain in the search for alternative treatment for a brain tumour – has called the action of police in arresting the couple “disgraceful”.

Sky News reports that Ashya has been taken to a children’s hospital in Malaga, Spain for treatment, after his parents were arrested at a hostel in Spain.

An international warrant for their arrest was issued after Ashya’s father Brett King took his son out of Southampton Hospital without advising doctors and the family headed for Spain.

When staff at Southampton General Hospital realised Ashya had not been returned, Hampshire Police were informed and a search for the boy was launched. Police have defended their actions, saying that medical staff told them Ashya was in “grave danger” – it was feared that the battery in his automatic intravenous (IV) feeder would run out within a day after he went missing.

Ashya’s parents – Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45 – have now appeared in handcuffs in a court in Spain.

The family – which includes six children – has posted videos online showing how they were caring for Ashya with IV liquid food supplies they bought online, which are exactly the same as used for Ashya in hospital. The family has also bought an in-car charger for the automatic feeder so that Ashya can continue to receive liquid nutrition.

It has emerged that Ashya’s parents decided to remove their son from hospital in Southampton after staff advised them nothing more could be done for the boy. The hospital has issued a statement saying that the family was offered the chance to have a second opinion – and help with seeking treatment for Ashya overseas.

The family took Ashya to Spain because Mr Brett has sold their holiday home on the Costa del Sol to fund Proton Beam treatment for Ashya.

Proton Beam treatment is an advanced form of radiotherapy which uses a targeted beam to destroy brain tumours, without causing damage to other brain tissue. Traditional radiotherapy aims at a larger target area and in the case of brain tumour patients, this may result in permanent brain injury and related disability.

The NHS has limited resources and equipment for offering Proton Beam therapy, although £250 million is being invested in the technique.

NHS patients considered suitable for Proton Beam therapy can be sent abroad at the expense of the NHS, but treatment costs around £100,000 per patient.

As parents, Mr and Mrs King would have the right to decide upon their child’s treatment, but the fact that Ashya apparently went missing from the hospital and medics deemed him to be in danger means that a criminal operation to find the boy and his parents was launched.

A judge in Spain will now decide whether Mr and Mrs King will face further charges at the High Court in Madrid.

On Sunday (31/08/14), Mr King’s mother, Patricia King, said she had not been in contact with her son and daughter-in-law – and feared her grandson Ashya would now be by himself in hospital while his parents are being held by police in Spain. They are due to be questioned by British police and are facing possible extradition back to the UK.

Ashya underwent brain surgery last week at Southampton General Hospital.

It is reported he is now in a stable condition at the Materno-Infantil Hospital in Malaga and doctors at Southampton General Hospital are working with colleagues in Malaga to decide a care plan for him.

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