British parents ‘treated like terrorists’ reunited with ill son

The parents of Ashya King have arrived at a Spanish hospital for a reunion with their sick son, after speaking for the first time of their anguish at being separated from him.

Brett and Naghmeh King were hoping to see the Ashya (5), a brain tumour patient, for the first time since they were arrested on Saturday.

Mr King said he feared they would be barred from visiting the child after he was made a ward of court, but those proceedings do not stop the couple from seeing Ashya.

Ashya was temporarily made a ward of court last week.

However at a hearing in the High Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Baker expressed concerns that the child was separated from his parents and he hoped the parents would take part in the next hearing. The hearing was adjourned to Monday.

A Judicial Office spokesman said: “If there is a dispute between the parents and the medical authorities as to the right course of treatment, the court will make the decision, probably at the hearing on Monday.

“If the parties are in agreement, the court will endorse that agreement, and the judge indicated in court that he will be available at all times to give his approval if an agreement is reached before Monday so that treatment can be started without further delay.”

Earlier the couple spoke in public about their ordeal for the first time since they were freed from Soto del Real prison.

They were released after British authorities abandoned their attempts to extradite them amid a public backlash.

Ms King said she had been "crying and crying" as she described the torment of being unable to help her son from the jail cell near Madrid where she and her husband have been detained since they were arrested on Saturday.

She told the BBC: “What could I do in a prison cell? I was just praying so I could be reunited with him again. All I could do was just cry and pray.”

‘Treated like terrorists’

Mr King said his heart was “aching” to see Ashya again;

he hit out at their treatment since they removed him from Southampton General Hospital almost a week ago, saying they had been “treated like terrorists”.

He claimed he had previously informed the hospital about his plans to seek proton therapy for his son but kept the date that he intended to take him secret for fear he would be stopped.

“When I just asked ‘What is cancer? How did my son get it? Is there any alternatives?’, straight away they said if I ask any more questions, the right for me to make a decision would be taken away from me because they get an immediate court paper to say that they have right over my child.

“So from that moment I had so much fear to mention anything to them because they could have stopped my son getting any treatment and just forcing this very strong treatment on him.

“I couldn’t tell them when because otherwise they might have stopped me. I was in fear.”

At Southampton General Hospital, Dr Peter Wilson, chief paediatrician, told Sky News that the family had made it clear that they would like to take Ashya to Prague but that the hospital had no idea the family had planned to leave.

"We had made it very clear what could be offered on the NHS. While were we having those discussions, the family made it very clear they would like to go to Prague."

Asked whether they had threatened the Kings with an order which would have taken away their right to make decisions about their son’s care, he said: “Absolutely not. We absolutely disagree with that statement.” – (PA)