Ashya's parents await court ruling

Brett King, 51, and his wife Naghmeh, 45, appeared in court yesterday after they were arrested on Saturday night in Velez-Malaga by Spanish police.

A ruling on whether they are to be transferred to a Madrid court for an extradition hearing is expected today, according to reports.

The couple’s decision to take their son out of hospital has generated heated debate on social media about their right to decide what treatment Aysha receives.

According to reports, they travelled to Spain to sell a holiday home to obtain funds for proton beam therapy, which is not available through the NHS.

They are believed to be in custody while their son, who is suffering from a stage four brain tumour, is cared for away from them at the Materno-Infantil hospital in Malaga.

Television footage yesterday showed the Kings, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, being taken to and from the court in Velez-Malaga to a police car.

Both appeared to be handcuffed as officers pushed them into the police vehicle.

Mr King could be heard saying, “We just want the best for Ashya”, while his wife repeated that they just want the “best treatment” for their son.

British police have travelled to Spain to question the couple and yesterday defended their decision to request a European arrest warrant for them on suspicion of neglect.

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead of Hampshire Constabulary said he was aware the police’s approach had created a “significant amount of debate”.

He said: “We had medical experts telling us that Ashya was in grave danger. Medical experts were saying to us that if he didn’t get the care that he needed, there was a potential threat to his life.

“Faced with those circumstances, I make no apology for the police being as proactive as we possibly can to actually find Ashya and ensure that he gets the help he needed.

“I would much sooner be standing here facing criticism for being proactive than to stand here and face criticism for doing nothing and then potentially having to explain why a child has lost his life.”

But Mr King’s mother, Patricia King, said that they had “gone over the top” after officers used a warrant to search her flat in Southsea, Portsmouth.

She told the BBC: “I’m very angry, I think it’s been taken too far, much too far.

“The police have talked to me and my flat’s been search. Two policewomen and a police man came to my home with a warrant and searched my flat. I’m disgusted.”

In a video blog posted on YouTube, Mr King said he had pleaded for proton beam therapy to be used to treat his son but had been told that it would be no benefit for the medulloblastoma Ashya is suffering.

He also claimed his son’s treatment in Southampton seemed like ”trial and error” but was told that if he questioned it 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 had to start looking at the proton beam myself.”

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust today said it had offered Ashya’s family access to a second opinion on the boy’s treatment and offered to help with organising treatment abroad.

Ashya’s six brothers and sisters are still thought to be staying at the hostel where their parents were arrested.

His brother Naveed King, 20, posted a video blog yesterday claiming that the family had stocked up on the food and syringes that the boy needed ahead of their journey and brought him a brand new wheelchair costing up to £1,600.

He claimed his brother was “obviously happy, he wasn’t in any way in any danger and he was not neglected at all”, before Spanish police swooped.