Ashya's parents freed in Spain
The parents of brain tumour patient Ashya King are being released in Spain, according to family members.
The five-year-old’s brother Danny told Sky News that Brett and Naghmeh King were being released from prison in Madrid without any charges.
Asked how he was feeling, he said: “I’m in shock, at the moment, we’ve been waiting so long for this moment to come, and it’s finally come.”
He thanked everyone who had supported their cause, including Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. The National Court in Madrid said in a statement that a judge had decided to free the couple after British authorities dropped the case against them.
Another brother, Naveed, said on Facebook: BREAKING NEWS: My parents are now free! SPREAD THE WORD! WOW THIS IS AMAZING! SO OVERJOYED! WOW!
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had said it was seeking the withdrawal of the European arrest warrant that sparked the pursuit of the parents, who were arrested in Spain on Saturday after taking Ashya from Southampton General Hospital last Thursday. The next hearing in the case had been likely to take place tomorrow.
The CPS said it had arranged with Southampton Magistrates Court for proceedings to be dropped and the arrest warrants discharged.
Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the move, saying: “I welcome the prosecution against Ashya King’s parents being dropped. It’s important this little boy gets treatment and the love of his family.”
Simon Hayes, police and crime commissioner for Hampshire, said he would seek assurances about the “quality of the information” provided by the hospital to police.
He said: “In light of today’s announcement by the CPS, I now need to be assured as to the quality of the information given by Southampton General Hospital to Hampshire Constabulary.
“Now that Ashya is receiving the medical assistance he requires and Mr and Mrs King will be reunited with him, this is the time to analyse decisions that were made.” Ashya is being treated in Malaga.
A spokesman for University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are pleased that Ashya’s parents will be released and will be able to see their son.
“When Ashya went missing last week we had no option but to call the police because we did not know where he was or what his parents’ intentions were. The police asked us to make statements about his clinical condition and need of medical care and we stand by the accuracy of the information we gave them.
“No hospital should be deterred from raising the alarm when they have doubts about the safety of a child.”
Patricia King, paternal grandmother of Ashya, told Sky News: “He (brother Danny) is going to be allowed to see Ashya any time he wants. That will help a lot, because he’s got someone he loves with him. That is one thing, that he won’t be on his own.
“The way everybody has behaved – the hospital who are now backtracking, the police who are now backtracking. They’ve done wrong, they all know they’re wrong.”
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Government was proposing to fly a top oncologist to Spain to advise the family.
He said: “What we want to do is make sure that Ashya’s family get the best independent advice.
“We are arranging for an independent expert to fly if the family would like to Spain to give them advice as to exactly what the right course of action is for Ashya going forward.”
Mr Hunt said the NHS offers proton beam therapy for children who need it and had funded 99 patients in the last year, adding: “It is not always appropriate, it is not always safe.”
Danny King told Sky News that the family was hoping to get Ashya to Prague for proton therapy. “First my parents have to get to see Ashya, and get the family together once again.”
An online petition calling for Ashya to be reunited with his parents had attracted nearly 200,000 signatures at 5pm tonight. Ethan Dallas, 16, a friend of Ashya’s brother Naveed, who started the petition, delivered it to Downing Street today and said the case had “touched the heart of nations”.
It also emerged today that the family are planning legal action against Southampton General Hospital.
Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz, the couple’s lawyer in Spain, said they are “so sad”, adding: “They are going to prepare legal demands against the hospital in Southampton. Legal action will be against the hospital.”
The CPS said: “The CPS has urgently reviewed the case and we consider there is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction for any criminal offence. We have therefore decided to stop the criminal proceedings.”
