- .Brett and Naghmeh King are being held separately in a Madrid prison
- .But the CPS says it is trying to drop arrest warrant and extradition attempt
- .Ashya, 5, remains under armed guard hours away in Malaga hospital bed
- .His parents will appear in Spanish court tomorrow and likely to be released
- .Hospital he was taken from says they're willing to allow alternative treatment
- .Petition for family to be reunited has attracted more than 150,000 signatures
- .Older brother Danny has been by Ashya's bedside and told he can stay
- .'I want to make sure he gets the best possible treatment. He is exactly how he came in, which is perfectly healthy,' he said
Ashya King's parents are set to be released from prison and will be reunited with their critically ill son in hospital - but face another agonising night behind bars.
The Crown Prosecution Service told the High Court this afternoon they will withdraw their European Arrest Warrant, drop child cruelty charges and also abandon plans to force them to return to the UK.
Brett and Naghmeh King are languishing in one of Spain's most notorious jails after they took Ashya from Southampton General Hospital without consent last Thursday in a row over his brain cancer treatment.
A Spanish judge is likely to agree to free them when they appear before a Madrid court tomorrow morning, allowing them to be reunited with Ashya tomorrow afternoon.
It came as more than 150,000 people signed a petition demanding Mr and Mrs King must be released and allowed to visit their son in hospital, with supporters protesting at Downing Street this morning.
David Cameron said he 'welcomed the decision' to allow Ashya to be reunited with his parents and said his plight reminded him of his own disabled son Ivan, who died in 2009 aged six.
Ashya's eldest brother is holding long vigils at his bedside in a Spanish hospital and told MailOnline 'he is doing really well', despite being without his parents since Saturday under police guard in a Malaga hospital.
Tough: Yesterday a Spanish High Court judge ruled that Mr and Mrs King (pictured leaving Velex Malaga police station) can be held for up to 72 hours while he decides on his response to a British extradition request. They are hundreds of miles from their ill son Ashya, and banned from seeing him
Alone: Ashya King has been separated from his family and remains under police guard in a hospital hundreds of miles from his parents
Direct action: Family campaigner Sanjay Ganatra and the King's friend Ethan hand a petition into Downing Street asking the PM to reunite Ashya with his parents
The CPS said in a statement: 'The CPS is currently taking steps to withdraw the European Arrest Warrants in relation to Brett and Naghmeh King.
'No further action will be taken against Mr and Mrs King and we are now in the process of communicating this decision to the Spanish Authorities so that they can be reunited with their son as soon as possible'.
The head of the police force which applied for the European Arrest warrant, sparking the hunt for the parents, also admitted said the situation was 'not right'.
HOSPITAL: ASHYA CAN HAVE THE TREATMENT HIS PARENTS WANTED
The NHS Trust where Ashya King was treated no longer objects to the five-year-old having expensive proton beam therapy, the High Court heard.
Vikram Sachdeva, for Southampton University Hospitals Trust, even suggested Prague as a possible venue for the treatment - the clinic that Brett and Naghmeh King has wanted.
'As long as the transfer was arranged and it was safe, in principle we have no objection,' he said.
Asked the King parents were acting responsibly in demanding proton therapy, the lawyer said, 'It is a view they are entitled to.
'It is not a treatment the trust are offering.'
Mr Sachdeva said proton therapy was 'no better or worse than radiotherapy'.
Southampton University Hospitals Trust initially approached Portsmouth City Council, and won a court order making Ashya a ward of the court.
Mr Justice Baker said it would be 'quite wrong' to come to a final decision about the child's treatment without the input of Ashya's parents.
He adjourned the case until next Monday and said he hoped the CPS would have discharged the arrest warrant by then.
Miss Chaudry, for the CPS, said she would seek to begin the process when the Spanish courts next sat.
Andy Marsh, chief constable of Hampshire Police, said: 'It is my view as Chief Constable that the situation today is not right. Irrespective of what has happened it is our view that Ashya needs both medical treatment and for his parents to be at his side.
'Our intent was to secure his safety not to deny him family support at this particularly challenging time in his life.'
Beaming as he left his bedside this afternoon Ashya's brother Danny King said he was delighted to have spent so much time with his sick brother over the past 24 hours.
He said: 'I want to spend as much time as possible at his bedside and make sure he gets the best possible treatment – he is my main priority at the moment. He is exactly how he came in which is perfectly healthy.
‘I have not been getting much sleep, but the hospital are allowing me to stay as long as I want past visiting hours, which is great.
‘We want to thank everyone for their incredible support it’s been a great help and means a lot to the family.’
Danny, 23, was yesterday given permission to see his brother in the Materno Infantil children's hospital, which is in the Spanish city of Malaga.
He is the first relative of Ashya’s to be allowed to see the sick child since Saturday night, when his parents were arrested by Spanish police.
The remaining five siblings – four boys and a girl – are desperate to see Ashya, but have not been granted permission yet.
Since Saturday night the five-year-old has been separated form his family and only his older brother Danny, 23, has been able to see him at Málaga's Hospital Materno-Infanti, where the brain cancer patient is being guarded by armed police.
Home Secretary Theresa May said this afternoon the Crown Prosecution Service was considering withdrawing their arrest warrant for Mr and Mrs King and also scrapping their extradition back to the UK for alleged 'cruelty to a person under the age of 16 years'.
A hearing will take place at the High Court in London at 2.30pm today to review the five-year-old's care in Spain, which could see his parents made his guardians again.
New access: Danny King smiles as he leaves Hospital Materno Infantil in Malaga after visiting his five-year-old brother Ashya King, who he says 'is doing well'
Ashya King is in the Materno Infantil Hospital in Malaga, southern Spain, and has only been able to see his oldest brother
Extraordinary support: More than 110,000 people have signed a petition demanding that David Cameron intervenes to have King's released
Reaction: David Cameron said he was pleased the CPS had dropped any charges and the family would be reunited
Ethan Dallas, 16, who started the petition and is a close friend of Ashya's brother Naveed, told MailOnline: ‘Ashya’s parents are still imprisoned. They have been in there for three days now. His siblings are all panicking – they have barely slept at all.
ASHYA'S PARENTS ARE HELD SEPARATELY IN NOTORIOUS JAIL
Hundreds of miles from their son Ashya, Brett and Naghmeh King face at least 72 hours in a notorious Madrid high security jail.
The couple were sent to Soto del Real prison 40km north of the Spanish capital yesterday as a judge considers their extradition case.
Mr and Mrs King appeared in court yesterday and are now being held in separate wings of the jail and not able to see eachother.
Soto del Real has 1,600 inmates and contains some of Spain's most notorious prisoners including murderers and sex offenders.
It also contains very high profile Basque separatists accused of acts of terror.
Prisoners are allowed to make two free five minute phone calls a day and allowed one face to face visitor per week.
Cells contain two prisoners and are allowed out for an hour to exercise in its sports hall.
The prison has a stark, modern design, with giant watchtower at its heart. It also has no vegetation surrounding it.
'It is clear that five-year-old Ashya, a loving sweet little boy, has been anything but neglected by his loving family.
‘What we want to achieve is to get his parents released and for them to be able to choose the treatment they want for their son.
'We often hear parents say they would do anything in the world to help their child. Mr and Mrs King are attempting to, but are themselves being neglected.
'We appeal to Mr Cameron, the Prime Minister, and the father within, to personally make the request that Mr and Mrs King be released from custody immediately and that all proceedings against them be halted'.
Family friend Sanjay Gamatra added: ‘Please Mr Cameron, reunite them with Ashya. Everything else can wait. He needs his parents and his parents need their son.’
‘Please allow the parents to be with Ashya – everything else can wait. The justice system will take its own course, but please, please, please let him be back with the parents. That’s all we ask, everything else can wait.’
In an interview with LBC, Prime Minister David Cameron joined the chorus of voices calling for the King family to be allowed access to Ashya.
'Watching the pictures of him brought back memories of my desperate ill young boy Ivan and I remember him endlessly sitting on my lap and having to feed him through a tube and having to deal with all of the difficulties of having a desperately ill child,' Mr Cameron said.
'But the government mustn't tell the police how to act or what to do, nor can we interfere in processes in other countries.
'I just hope there is a rapid outbreak of common sense so the family can be reunited with this young boy and the best treatment can be given to him either in the UK or elsewhere.'
In a video posted on YouTube, Ashya's brother Naveed thanked the public for their support and those who have been helping to reunite his parents with their sick son.
In a message to those who had signed the petitions and helped spread word of the family's plight through social media, he said: 'I would just like to thank every single person for helping with that.'
Calling for 'higher' authorities to help the family's cause, he added: 'As far as I know, Nick Clegg and (Mr) Cameron have got involved, and I would just like to say thank you for them both for getting involved, but we still need a bigger push to get my parents back with Ashya...
'Of course, the fight is not over.'
Care: Brett King (pictured with Ashya) and his wife Nagmeh took their terminally ill son from Southampton General Hospital without consent last Thursday. They are now being held in a Madrid jail
Ill: Ashya's brother Naveed (pictured right) said police have been standing guard outside the hospital room to stop visitors
Nick Clegg said today it is 'not appropriate' to 'throw the full force of the law' and Boris Johnson blasted the 'potty' decision because 'parents and a suffering child should be united'.
Ashya's parents took him to Spain from Southampton General Hospital without consent last Thursday in the hope the could sell their holiday home on the Costa del Sol to raise money for specialist treatment not available on the NHS.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has told Good Morning Britain that Ashya King should be back with his family.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said the family should be together. Speaking on his monthly radio phone-in on LBC, he said: ‘Parents and a suffering child should be united. If they have got a plan to treat their child they should be supported in that.’
Former children's minister Tim Loughton said the biggest outrage was that Ashya's case had almost become a child protection issue and his parents were being criminalised when that was 'clearly not the case'.
The leader of Portsmouth City Council - who applied to have the boy made a temporary ward of court on Friday - said: 'The CPS should drop the case today and the parents released. They could be with their son within two to three hours'
Mr and Mrs King are being held separately in the Soto del Real prison 40km north of the Spanish capital yesterday as a judge considers their extradition case
Danny King last night spoke of the trauma caused by his parents being held for another night in a Madrid jail - which holds Spain's most notorious prisoners - hundreds of miles from their desperately ill child.
LEGAL EXPERTS SLAM 'MISCONCEIVED' APPROACH IN UK
The approach taken by UK authorities to the case of brain tumour patient Ashya King is 'misconceived', a leading lawyer has said.
John Cooper QC said the five-year-old's parents Brett and Naghmeh do not appear to have committed any crime.
The family took Ashya from Southampton General Hospital last Thursday and travelled to France with him and his six siblings before heading to the Costa del Sol in southern Spain.
Mr King, 51, and Mrs King, 45, were arrested on Saturday night in Velez-Malaga.
British police have defended their decision to request a European arrest warrant, while the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the case was under 'immediate review' and a decision will be made whether to prosecute.
Mr Cooper said: 'The approach being taken in this case is misconceived. I am concerned firstly that the CPS have authorised an approach to this investigation without any foundation in law.
'I do not see upon my analysis that the family have committed any criminal offence and if that's correct the basis firstly for the European arrest warrant and secondly for extradition proceedings is a false basis as a matter of law.
'Quite why this has happened is a matter of speculation.
'From 30 years of experience as a QC in crime and human rights I personally cannot see the basis for this application.'
A judge in Spain ruled that the Kings must be held for up to 72 hours while the court considers whether to grant a British extradition request.
Mr Cooper called for the parents to be granted bail 'if for no other reason than compassionate'.
He called on the Crown Prosecution Service to explain their decision to apply for an arrest warrant 'given the unprecedented national and international interest in this case'.
In an interview with the BBC, he said he had finally been granted permission to visit his younger brother at Málaga's Hospital Materno-Infanti.
He also spoke of the trauma caused by his arrested parents being held hundreds of miles away in a Madrid jail while a Spanish court considers whether to grant a British extradition request.
'My whole family were just concentrating on Ashya, so them being taken away from Ashya and Ashya being taken away from us, and our parents being taken away from us - it's quite hard,' he said.
'We’re quite a tight family, united,' he added.
Yesterday a Spanish High Court judge ruled that Mr and Mrs King can be held for up to 72 hours while he decides on his response to the request.
The couple's lawyer Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz said Mr and Mrs King felt there were no grounds for them to be prosecuted, adding that are 'absolutely surprirsed by the situation' as they 'never thought they had committed any crime.'
Yesterday Ashya's brother, Naveed, told Channel 4 News: 'We're not allowed to go and see Ashya at all.'
'There is police standing outside his hospital room. We are not allowed to go and see him. We have tried to call the hospital but they are not revealing any information at all to us.'
'My mum was by his side for the whole month that he was in hospital so for him to now suddenly not be with anyone of the family... his health might actually deteriorate because he can't be entertained and be happy.'
Ashya's grandmother Patricia King said that Ashya's parents have been given a 'terrible run-around' by the authorities in Madrid.
She said: 'The whole thing is a huge injustice. They are still not allowed to see Ashya, which is shocking. It's the worst thing of all. If this carries on, it could kill him.'
Ethan Dallas, a friend of Ashya's brother Naveed, told the programme he will take the petition containing more than 100,000 signatures calling for the family to be reunited to Downing Street later.
He said: 'I think that he (David Cameron) just needs to release Brett and his wife and allow them to choose the treatment that they see fit for their son.'
Mr Dallas said the family are 'really stressed'.
He said: 'I've spoken to Naveed on Skype and he's said that they are all super-stressed, they've barely slept at all and they're just really, really hoping to see their little brother really soon.'
Brett and Nagmeh King (right) travelled to Spain to sell a holiday home to obtain funds for proton beam therapy for Ashya (left). The treatment is not available through the NHS
Care: Brett and Nagmeh King pictured with desperately ill Ashya at Southampton General Hospital
Mr and Mrs King travelled to Spain to sell a holiday home to obtain funds for proton beam therapy, which is not available through the NHS, according to reports.
Their son, who is suffering from a stage four brain tumour, is being cared for at the Materno-Infantil hospital in Malaga.
Speaking to the BBC, Danny said: 'We are very grateful that he is in such a good hospital. The only thing my parents are worried about is Ashya, I hope my parents get released as soon as possible.'
More than 80,000 people have signed an online petition demanding Ashya is reunited with his parents.
British police have defended their decision to request a European arrest warrant.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead, of Hampshire Constabulary, said he was aware the police's approach had created a "significant amount of debate" but he would rather be criticised for "being proactive" than "potentially having to explain why a child has lost his life".
Simon Hayes, police and crime commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: "Hampshire Constabulary's role, as in many other cases, was to safeguard the interests of a very vulnerable sick young child and find Ashya."
The Crown Prosecution Service said the case was under "immediate review" and a decision will be made whether to prosecute.
A spokesman said it had applied for the arrest warrant "at the request of Hampshire Police for an offence of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 years" on Friday.
The CPS reviewed the evidence available at that time. "Further evidence is now being provided to the CPS and so the case is under immediate review."
The Proton Therapy Centre in Prague confirmed it was able to treat Ashya immediately if he was eligible for therapy, with the cost of the treatment to be sorted out later.
Director of strategy Iva Tatounova said Naveed had been in touch with the centre yesterday, giving details of the Spanish doctors treating Ashya, and saying they were willing to send the centre the result of his MRI scan.
"We have asked them to do that, so we can assess the boy's condition... There would have to be a recommendation from the doctors in Southampton, but we are here, and willing to co-operate."
To sign the petition click HERE
ASHYA HOSPITAL: 'WE WERE WILLING TO SUPPORT FAMILY IF THEY WANTED TO SEEK ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT - BUT WE DIDN'T RECOMMEND IT'
Ashya King was taken from Southampton General Hospital by his father Brett King over his treatment - but the NHS say they offered to help them get what they wanted
The hospital where Ashya King was cared for before his parents took him to Europe for alternative treatment said today: 'We were willing to support the family's transfer'.
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is set to be sued by the five-year-olds parents for their alleged poor care.
But they have fought back and said they offered the family the proton therapy they desired - but had refused to recommend it.
A spokesman said: 'While Ashya was under our care, we discussed the option of treatment in this centre with the family and made contact with them at that point.
'We were willing to support the family's transfer to Prague for proton beam radiotherapy, although we did not recommend it.
'The Proton Therapy Centre has been in touch again yesterday afternoon to inquire about Ashya's potential future care and confirm that they would be keen to treat him if he is suitable according to the relevant criteria.
'We have of course been open to discussing this; however, since Ashya is a ward of court, at this stage it is for a judge to make all future decisions regarding his treatment.
'The decision to apply for ward of court was made by Portsmouth City Council with our support and on the advice of Hampshire Police.'
No comments:
Post a Comment