- .Hampshire Constabulary confirmed Ashya has been found alive in Spain
- .Father Brett King recorded a video explaining why they had gone on the run
- .Urged police to stop the 'ridiculous chase' and asked to be 'left in peace'
- .Said the NHS had not been able to give the treatment they wanted for son
- .Tonight, the boy was rushed to hospital in Malaga for urgent attention
- .Parents have been held in police custody after being found in their car
- .Couple's six other children staying in nearby hostel with eldest son Naveed
- .Boy was taken from hospital in Southampton by his parents on Thursday
The father of Ashya King, the terminally-ill youngster who was taken by his parents from hospital without doctors' consent, recorded a video explaining why they had gone on the run - hours before their missing son was found by police.
The video of Brett King was posted on YouTube tonight by his eldest son Naveed, less than one hour after the young boy was found alive in Spain.
In the video, Jehovah's Witness Mr King, 51, called for police to stop the 'ridiculous chase', saying their son was 'perfectly healthy' and the family wanted to be 'left in peace'.
The couple had taken Ashya from Southampton General Hospital on Thursday, after doctors told them he had months to live.
It sparked a manhunt across England, France and Spain and police issued a European warrant for their arrests on the grounds of neglect.
In this video, which was posted on YouTube, Brett King, the father of terminally-ill Ashya, explained why he had gone on the run with his five-year-old son and his family
In the video, Mr King called for police to stop the 'ridiculous chase', saying his son was 'perfectly healthy'
Mr King said of his son that they just wanted to get on with his treatment, saying they would not come back to England if they could not get the treatment he wanted
He and his wife Naghmeh are now being held in police custody, while their son is being given urgent medical treatment at the Materno-Infantil Hospital in Malaga under police guard.
In the extraordinary video, Mr King - who is pictured holding his son on a bed - said he decided to record the message after being 'most disturbed' to find Ashya's face 'all over the internet'.
He said he and his wife were not 'neglecting' their son and that Ashya, who has a brain tumour, was 'perfectly healthy'.
He said: 'We were most disturbed today to find that his face is all over the internet and newspapers and we have been labelled as kidnappers putting his life at risk, neglect.
'There is nothing wrong with him, he is very happy actually. Since we took him out of hospital, he has been smiling a lot more.'
He added: 'We're not neglecting our son, he's in perfectly good health. My son is smiling, he's happy, we're doing things as a family.
'We just want to be left in peace. He's very sick. I just want to get on with his treatment. I'm not coming back to England if I cannot give him the treatment I want, which is proper treatment. I just want positive results for my son.'
Ashya King, five, who was taken from Southampton General Hospital without consent by his mother and father, has been found alive in Spain
The couple were arrested on Saturday night outside hostel Hotel Esperanza in Benajarafe, southern Spain, 14 miles east of Malaga.
Police say they were outside the hostel in their Hyundai car with their young son when they were caught, at around 10pm local time.
A receptionist at the hostel had called police as the family tried to check in, it emerged last night.
They are expected to be taken to Madrid tomorrow for an extradition hearing at Madrid’s Central Criminal Court.
Their six other children - who were not in the car - are now staying at the hostel.
Receptionist Ilia Pardo told local paper Sur one of the couple’s grown-up children tried to book two rooms.
Mr and Mrs King checked into Hostel Esperanza, near Malaga, pictured above, earlier today with all their children
She added: 'The family were waiting in the car. As there wasn’t any parking space available inside, I went out to show them where they could park the car.
'I got nervous when I saw the English number plate because I had seen the news about their disappearance on the Internet a few minutes earlier.
'There had been a problem with our computers so I couldn’t pass the details of the reservation on to the police as we’re obliged to do.
'But I told my boss to call the police because I suspected they might be the runaway British family.
'I did what I was supposed to do. Afterwards one of the sons had a go at me because I called the police.'
She added: 'The doctors carried the boy out in their arms. He looked very weak, as if he was asleep.'
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead of Hampshire Constabulary said there was not currently an update on Ashya's condition but that he was showing 'no visible signs of distress'.
He said: 'There are no winners in this situation. I've said all along that this must be a terribly distressing time for Ashya's family and I stand by that now.
'Ashya's brothers and sisters were not in the vehicle. We have located them. They're all okay, they're fine. They are actually in a hotel about 10 miles away.'
Mr Shead added that it was too soon to say when Ashya would come back to the UK but that Southampton General Hospital had been contacted to liaise with medical staff in Spain.
Spanish Police arrived at the coastal apartment block in Marbella earlier today where Ashya King's family own a property
In the video, Mr King told how they had wanted to leave the hospital because the NHS could not fund the proton beam treatment that they wanted for their son.
'We couldn't take it any more - not knowing and not being able to question anything in fear that they say, "Sorry Mr and Mrs King, emergency protection order, you're no longer allowed in the ward",' he told the camera.
'Under that stress, our son has grade four brain tumour, we couldn't discuss or question them at all in fear that our son would be in that ward all day long by himself without his parents being able to come in.
'We couldn't be under that system any more. I was going to get the money to pay for the proton beam therapy but they have prevented that now because the Spanish police are involved and I can't do want I wanted to do.'
'But straight away afterwards he went into what's called posterior fossa syndrome, which means very limited moving or talking or doing anything.'
He continued: 'Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer.
'It zones in on the area, whereby normal radiation passes right through his head and comes out the other side and destroys everything in his head.
Asyha, who underwent an operation on a brain tumour last month, in hospital with his mother Naghmeh in a photo posted on Facebook by a relative
CCTV footage from the hospital shows Ashya King, who has a brain tumour, being taken by his father
'We pleaded with them for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer - which is called medulloblastoma - it would have no benefit whatsoever.
'I went straight back to my room and looked it up and the American sites and French sites and Switzerland sites where they have proton beam said the opposite, it would be very beneficial for him.
'Then I spoke to them again, I wrote a letter which he never responded to, saying OK - I will sell my property in order to pay for the proton beam.'
After the boy was found, Hampshire Constabulary posted on its Facebook page: 'Ashya has been found. He is in Spain with his mum and dad.
'Police are speaking to his mum and dad and we are waiting to hear on Ashya's condition.'
Spanish police, announcing the arrest on Twitter, said: 'Thanks, cracks. The youngster, Ashya King, found in a hotel three kilometres from Velez-Malaga and now in hospital. His parents arrested.'
Earlier, police had issued a European arrest warrant for the couple, as part of the manhunt for the young boy.
Spanish police had surrounded a flat in Marbella as part of the manhunt for the young boy and his 'desperate' parents.
Photos posted by relatives online show the youngster in hospital after he underwent an emergency operation for a brain tumour last month
Two Civil Guard guards had been stationed outside a luxury apartment in the resort of Estepona after Hampshire Police received a number of 'positive sightings' in the search.
The child is suffering from a brain tumour and is in need of 24-hour-a-day care. He is in a wheelchair and is fed through a tube, but it was thought the system's battery was due to run out last night.
He had undergone 'extensive surgery' for the aggressive tumour, with his last operation eight days ago, police have said.
Speaking outside Hampshire Constabulary's headquarters this afternoon, Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead said the European arrest warrant was based around 'neglect' but added: 'That does not necessarily mean they would be charged with that offence. It purely gives us the power to arrest and then we'll be able to speak to them.
'Our message to Brett and Naghmeh is that this should not deter you from coming forward, please just come and speak to us.
'Once we know Ashya is safe, we will consider all other issues. Our first concern is to find him.'
The couple and their seven children, aged from two to 23, boarded a cross-Channel ferry to Cherbourg, France, at 4pm on Thursday, triggering a police alert and a race against time to find them.
The search widened considerably yesterday as Interpol sent out a missing persons alert to each of its 190 member countries.
Journey: The couple and their seven children boarded a ferry to Cherbourg, France, on Thursday. They are believed to have travelled to Spain and have 'strong links' to Marbella
CCTV showed Mr King, 51, wheeling him out of Southampton General Hospital on Thursday.
Friends said the Kings ‘idolised’ their children and had refused to accept that Ashya’s life could not be saved.
The couple are Jehovah’s Witnesses and the decision to take their son without doctors’ approval raised questions over whether they were trying to avoid a blood transfusion, which their faith rejects.
But a spokesman for the Office of Public Information for Jehovah’s Witnesses said there was ‘absolutely no indication’ their move was motivated by religion.
Doctors said Ashya only had four months left to live because of the aggressive nature of his cancer, the friend added.
The boy’s grandmother Patricia King said her family was devastated by the diagnosis but had hoped he was improving after surgery.
Mrs King, who lives near the family in Southsea, Portsmouth, said she had not been told if his condition was terminal, adding: ‘We were all getting more hopeful lately.’
She praised Ashya’s parents as ‘wonderful and caring’ and said her daughter-in-law had kept a bedside vigil.
Mr and Mrs King's hearing - which will be closed to the press and public - may take place as early as tomorrow.
The couple are expected to oppose extradition so defence lawyers can then argue at a new hearing they should be released on bail for humanitarian reasons.
If they oppose extradition, the extradition judge would have to decide whether to release them on bail or remand them in custody.
Ashya is comforted by his father, Brett. His grandmother said the family kept a bedside vigil during his time in hospital following the operation
'I JUST WANT POSITIVE RESULTS FOR MY SON': BRETT KING'S VIDEO
In a video blog posted on YouTube by Ashya's brother Naveed, their father said Ashya was doing well and explained that the family had decided to take him out of hospital to seek a cancer treatment not available on the NHS.
Mr King said: 'We were most disturbed today to find that his face is all over the internet and newspapers and we have been labelled as kidnappers putting his life at risk, neglect.'
Mr King said there had been 'a lot of talk' about the machine used to feed Ashya and whether they could make it work.
Police had warned that the family might not be able to work the machine and that it would run out of battery.
'As you can see there's nothing wrong with him, he is very happy actually since we took him out of hospital,' Mr King said.
'He has been smiling a lot more, he has very much been interacting with us. But I just wanted to say very quickly why we took him out of the hospital.
'The surgeon did a wonderful job on his head that took out the brain tumour, completely they reckon.
'But straight away afterwards he went into what's called posterior fossa syndrome, which means very limited moving or talking or doing anything.'
Mr King said he had spoken to specialists following Ashya's surgery and had requested proton beam treatment, which was not available on the NHS.
'Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer,' he said. 'It zones in on the area, whereby normal radiation passes right through his head and comes out the other side and destroys everything in his head.
'We pleaded with them for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer - which is called medulloblastoma - it would have no benefit whatsoever.
'I went straight back to my room and looked it up and the American sites and French sites and Switzerland sites where they have proton beam said the opposite, it would be very beneficial for him.
'Then I spoke to them again, I wrote a letter which he never responded to, saying OK - I will sell my property in order to pay for the proton beam.'
Mr King said his son's treatment seemed like 'trial and error' and he was told if he questioned the treatment the hospital would seek an emergency protection order.
He said: 'After that I realised I can't speak to the oncologist at all, because if I actually ask anything or give any doubt I wasn't in full accord with them, they were going to get a protection order which meant in his deepest, darkest hour I wouldn't be there to look after him, and neither would my wife - they would prevent us from entering the ward.
'That's such a cruel system I decided I to start looking at the proton beam myself.'
He added: 'We decided to try and sort it out ourselves but now we're refugees almost.
'We can't do anything. The police are after us. The things we want to do to raise the money to pay for the proton beam, they've prevented it now.
'So my son is being treated and he's doing fine. We're very happy with his progress. We're not neglecting him. He has everything he had in hospital.'
Mr King said Ashya was 'responding so much better' than he did in hospital.
'We couldn't take it any more - not knowing and not being able to question anything in fear that they say, 'Sorry Mr and Mrs King, emergency protection order, you're no longer allowed in the ward'," he said.
'Under that stress, our son has grade four brain tumour, we couldn't discuss or question them at all in fear that our son would be in that ward all day long by himself without his parents being able to come in.
'We couldn't be under that system any more. I was going to get the money to pay for the proton beam therapy but they have prevented that now because the Spanish police are involved and I can't do want I wanted to do.'
Mr King urged police to call off 'this ridiculous chase'.
'We're not neglecting our son, he's in perfectly good health. My son is smiling, he's happy, we're doing things as a family. We just want to be left in peace. He's very sick. I just want to get on with his treatment. I'm not coming back to England if I cannot give him the treatment I want, which is proper treatment. I just want positive results for my son.'
BROTHERLY LOVE: THE TOUCHING VIDEO MESSAGE ASHYA'S OLDER BROTHER, NAVEED, MADE AFTER THE FIVE-YEAR-OLD'S OPERATION
In a video posted on YouTube last month, Ashya's older brother Naveed King told how his younger sibling had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and was undergoing surgery.
Speaking into the camera in a message directly to Ashya, Naveed said: 'I haven't slept. I've been awake all night worrying. We love you so much. We're all here for you.
'Everyone is praying for you. We just want to see your smile again.'
A picture of Ashya with older brother Naveed, who made a heart-rending video for him after the operation
He added: 'No kid at the age of five deserves to have a brain tumour. Let's just hope the doctors know what they're doing and they know exactly where to operate and what to take out, and they take everything out and you can be better.
'And when we look back in 10 years' time when you're 15, we can actually see that things have changed for the better. Just because they're bad at one point doesn't mean they'll always be bad. I love you so much. I can't wait to see you.'
The family boarded a cross-Channel ferry from Portsmouth after Ashya went missing from Southampton General Hospital and are believed to be travelling in a grey-coloured Hyundai I800 Style CRDI (like that pictured, inset), registration KP60 HWK
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