Ashya King's Brother Naveed Defends Parents' Decision To Remove Him From Hospital

Ashya King 'Obviously Happy And Never In Danger,' Brother Says
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The brother of Ashya King, the boy with a brain tumour whose parents took him from hospital and fled to Spain, has defended them, saying they did not place his brother in "any danger at all", as relatives of a five-year-old described the decision to arrest his mother and father as "cruel".

Brett King, 51, and Naghmeh King, 45, took their son from Southampton General Hospital without doctors' consent they decided to leave the country to seek a form of treatment that is not available on the NHS.

Ashya's brother Naveed said in a new video blog posted on YouTube yesterday evening that the footage released on Saturday showing his father and his brother had been filmed minutes before the police arrived.

His video follows one published before his parents' arrest in Spain, which shows his father Mr King holding his son, insisting his health was not jeopardised by the removal.

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Naveed King said his parents took supplies to ensure Ashya's health was not jeopardised

Naveed King also claimed that reports that his parents had been arrested while driving the family car where inaccurate.

According to the 20-year-old, the family were spotted together while filming a video of Ashya.

"He was obviously happy, he wasn't in any way in any danger and he was not neglected at all," Naveed said.

Referring to concerns expressed by Hampshire police that a machine used to feed Ashya would run out of batteries last week, Naveed held up packages of food to the camera and said the family had bought a "box load".

He also said that the family had purchased a brand new wheelchair costing up to £1,600.

He said: "Whilst Ashya was in hospital for the first week, my father travelled in the morning, really early in the morning, came back late at night, sometimes reaching past midnight, and whilst he was home he did research upon hours, sometimes did not even sleep.

"He did constant research to find out information that could help Ashya, which the doctors deny.

"They did not want to hear anything about his research, as they did not believe any of this information that was being given to him, saying that the internet could not be trusted, whilst the internet gave him information that the doctors would not give him."

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Brett King appeared in a video defending the decision to take Ashya 'minutes' before his arrest

Legal proceedings against the Kings are expected to continue in Spain today.

Mr King's mother, Patricia King, told BBC Breakfast it was an "absolute disgrace" that her son and daughter-in-law had been taken away in handcuffs, accused of child neglect.

Mrs King, who said police searched her home, said: "They (the authorities) are the ones who are cruel because they have taken poor little Ashya who is dying of a brain tumour and they won't let the parents, my son and daughter-in-law, they won't let them see him at all.

"It's terrible, it is so cruel it is unbelievable.

She added: "To try and make out that he has been neglected well. Why haven't we got any human rights? They keep on, the EU, about human rights. Where are our human rights? We have got none."

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."

Hampshire police and crime commissioner Simon Hayes also defended the county's police force against accusations of heavy-handedness.

Mr Hayes BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Ashya had "rights to the complex medical treatment that he needs and he also has the right to the support of his parents" and he did not think it was "good at all" that the five-year-old was on his own in hospital. He said he hoped the boy would be reunited quickly with his parents in the UK.

But asked if police had been "heavy-handed", Mr Hayes said: "I think if Hampshire Constabulary had ignored the professional medical advice and opinion, then they would have been negligent in their responsibilities to safeguard Ashya in this case and young children in general.

"I think the reality is that Hampshire have no jurisdiction to operate outside the UK, so once Ashya's parents had taken him across the Channel, there was no option but to apply for a European arrest warrant to secure the support of other national police forces."

Ukip's Janice Atkinson, South East MEP, called for the couple to be released immediately.

"I am appalled that Ashya's parents have been arrested. This little boy needs his mother at this time," she said. "He is five years old, probably doesn't speak Spanish, and will be lying in a hospital bed in distress.

"I call on the Home Secretary to contact the Spanish authorities so that Ashya's parents are released immediately. Then she should ask the assistant chief constable of Hampshire, Chris Shead, why he 'made no apology for the police being proactive' to find Ashya.

"Then I would ask her whether she now thinks that pernicious European arrest warrant works in the hands of over-zealous policemen in the interests of British citizens?"