Ashya King Will Be Reunited With Parents After CPS Withdraw Arrest Warrant

Ashya King Will Be Reunited With Parents After CPS Withdraw Arrest Warrant
|
Open Image Modal
AP
The Yellow Notice issued by the international police force Interpol, Friday Aug. 29, 2014, asking for help to locate the missing five-year old boy Ashya King, who is believed to be in France. Police are searching for the five-year-old British boy who is suffering with a severe brain tumor whose parents, believed to be Jehovahâs Witnesses, took him out of a British hospital on Thursday and were last seen in France. The boy needs urgent medical treatment. (AP Photo/Interpol)

Ashya King is set to be reunited with his parents after the Crown Prosecution Service called off its case against them.

In a dramatic development this afternoon (Tuesday), the CPS withdrew the European Arrest Warrant it had issued against the boy's parents, Brett and Naghemeh King.

They were arrested in Spain on Saturday after they took their son from Southampton General Hospital with the intention of going to Prague for specialist proton therapy treatment for a brain tumour.

They were separated from their desperately ill five-year-old son and held in cells overnight while they waited to face a court hearing to extradite them to the UK.

Aysha is under police guard at the Materno-Infantil hospital in Malaga, 330 miles from the prison where his parents have been held. His older brother Danny was finally allowed to visit last night.

He hasn't seen his parents since they were arrested on Saturday.

But there was speculation that the couple could be released as early as this afternoon because the Crown Prosecution Service had decided Ashya's parents were not a threat to him.

In a statement the CPS said: "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."

However, it was reported that the couple may still have to face a judge in Madrid tomorrow morning to be officially released.

The move was welcomed by Prime Minister David Cameron, who said: "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."

Earlier, the Prime Minister had joined calls for Ashya to be reunited with his jailed parents.

Article continues after this video

In an interview with LBC, Prime Minister David Cameron joined a chorus of voices calling for the King family to be allowed access to Ashya, saying pictures of the boy reminded him of his own son Ivan who died almost six years ago.

He said: "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.

"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."

Earlier Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg told Sky News it was a 'heartbreaking' situation.

He said: "I've got a five-year-old son and the idea of leaving him in a hospital with no contact with parents and siblings fills me, as I imagine it fills all parents, with horror.

"I would like to see the family reunited and then hopefully people can calmly make a decision about what should happen next.

Meanwhile Portsmouth City Council Leader, Donna Jones, issued a statement calling for an end to the extradition proceedings, and Hampshire Police chief constable said the situation 'is not right', and his parents should be reunited with him.

In a letter to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the government, Portsmouth City Council and Southampton General Hospital, Andy Marsh 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."