Updated 2.10pm
ASHYA KING, THE five-year-old British boy with a brain tumour who was taken from hospital without medical consent, has been found in Spain with his parents, who have been arrested.
Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45, will appear in a Madrid court tomorrow.
“Ashya King was found in a hotel 3 km from de Velez Malaga (southern Spain) and was admitted to a hospital,” the National Police force wrote on its Twitter page.
His parents have been arrested.
British police also confirmed the missing family had been found.
“Ashya has been found,” said an update on the website of the Hampshire Constabulary. “He is in Spain with his mum and dad.”
According to the statement, police were speaking with Ashya’s parents and the boy’s condition was being assessed:
Thank you to everyone who has been incredible in helping us spread this appeal.
A police spokesman said that “the child is receiving hospital care, the parents are in detention,” adding that the other six children in the family are staying in an undisclosed location, looked after by the adults among them.
They were tracked down to a guesthouse, Hostal Esperanza on the Costa del Sol, around 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Malaga in southern Spain, after they were recognised by an employee.
“It’s my colleague that alerted the police,” an employee at the hostel told AFP by telephone. “She had seen them on an online newspaper.”
New video emerges
The family put a video online yesterday saying their son was “very happy since we took him out hospital”.
They said they took Ashya out of hospital because after he had surgery he developed limited movement and talking, and was very weak.
They said they wanted proton beam treatment for their child, but were refused.
In the video, they detailed how they have been caring for Ashya since they left the hospital.
European arrest warrant
Police earlier issued a European arrest warrant for Brett King, 51, and Naghemeh King, 45, after they drove their son away from a hospital in Southampton in southern England on Thursday.
Interpol launched a missing persons alert following a request from British police, who led the search.
“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,” said Chris Shead from Britain’s Hampshire police.
He added that Ashya’s six brothers and sisters were also found safe in Spain.
He said the 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.
King’s parents, who are Jehovah’s Witnesses, were seen boarding a ferry to Cherbourg in France after taking the boy.
Spanish police had said on Saturday they were looking for the missing child on the Costa del Sol.
The family were said to have “strong links” to the Marbella area on the south coast and use of a house there.
‘Please don’t judge’
In a tweet, posted alongside a picture of the child and his mother apparently taken in a hospital, the Spanish authorities had earlier said they were looking in Malaga and Marbella “for a family from the UK. The parents are denying treatment to a child who needs it.”
The boy was being fed through a tube and the batteries on his feeding system would have expired, British police had warned.
The youngster has undergone extensive surgery and was last operated on nine days ago.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for refusing blood transfusions on religious grounds, but are otherwise open to other medical procedures.
The group said there was no indication that the boy’s parents had been motivated by religious convictions and appealed to them to seek the best medical treatment for him.
The boy’s paternal grandmother, Patricia King, said her son and his wife were “marvellous” parents.
- Additional reporting Aoife Barry
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