General Chat

ElizabethK - Hampshire Constabulary would have presented their case to the Crown Prosecution Service and requested that they issue a European Arrest Warrant.

I also believe, that around the same time, an application was made to a High Court Judge, for an order to make Aysha a Ward of Court and that order as granted.

A very very sad state of affairs, a critically ill little boy in a town in Spain separated from his parents who are under arrest in another town in Spain :-(

it's all shocking - why were the parents handcuffed? why was Aysha's grandmother's house searched by police

now the dear little lad is in hospital on his own - no idea if he speaks Spanish and he must be wondering where his parents are

no time was he in any danger - his parents were not reckless, they already had everything they needed for Aysha, even a charger in the car for his feeding mechanism - the bought a state of the art wheelchair costing £1,600 pounds and a shedload of food off the internet - they knew what they were doing and it was their right to do what they did - they have committed no crime other than care deeply for their little boy

What ever the rights and wrongs of this tragic case. I just pray the dear little boy gets the treatment he needs, and his parents are given the support to help them face whatever the future may hold. <3

As do I PollyinBrum

and while this is going on the parents are losing precious time with their lovely little boy - I hope he overcomes this dreadful condition but sadly if he doesn't, precious hours of time spent with him have been lost aned can never be recovered

Bureaucracy, AnnC :-|

People must be seen to have done the 'right thing' despite the fact that there is actually a small child involved.

I think that it is the 'covering your own ar*se' syndrome in play :-|

In last few minutes, the court in in Madrid where the parents of little Aysha appeared to face an extradition hearing has adjourned until tomorrow - as yet there is no information as to whether they have been granted bail so they can be with their little boy :-(

Edited to add - The parents of Ashya King are being held in Spain after their extradition hearing was adjourned to allow the judge time to translate a number of documents.

Brett and Naghemeh King can be detained for up to 72 hours.

ITV has reported that a Czech proton therapy centre says it is ready to treat Aysha King within the next few days, the statement, issued on behalf of the Proton Therapy Center Czech, said:-

The center is ready to accept Aysha King immediately if the specialists receive proper medical documentation from the UK doctors.

Dr Jiri Kubes, Head of proton therapy said that if Aysha is indicated for proton therapy, the center is keen on starting the treatment in a few days, he said the issue of costs would be dealt with later on.

Iva Tatounova, Director of Strategy at PTC Czech said in a statement that the eventual cost of the treatment could be about a third of the cost in the US.

The centre's marketing manager said.European patients should have the right to access the treatment under the S2 rules or Cross Border Health Care Acts and have the treatment reimbursed.

wonderful news - let's hope they are able to take the offer up

A High Court spokesperson confirmed to ITV News that Aysha had been made a Ward of Court.

Julian Wooster, Portsmouth City Council's director for children's services, said that at the request of Southampton Hospital the council obtained a temporary Wardship Order on Friday, only to direct that Aysha be presented for medical treatment - the order will be reviewed by the High Court on Wednesday.

I wonder if this High Court Order stipulated that Aysha had to be presented for medical treatment "only at a UK hospital" if it did not state that - his parents would not be in breach of that order if they presented him for treatment at the Czech Proton Therapy Centre.

This whole sad affair is getting more messy as each hour passes and must be causing considerable distress for little Aysha, his parents, and the rest of his family :-(

There is clearly more to this than first meets the eye otherwise why were the police involved in the manner they were.

As ever not helped by all the speculation in the press and elsewhere.

I don't think it is now relevant whether there was "more to it than meets the eye" ( that too is speculation).

The child is now under guard and so it cannot hurt that the parents be released
( even if pending further legal action) to be with the child when he needs them most.

I am so angry about this.

The medics lied to the police - the battery didn't run out on the feeding tube it can be run off the mains - I wonder why no one mentioned that.

The child was not in danger of imminent death - another lie.

The father had the temerity to question the decision of a consultant.

If my child was terminally ill and I had the money I'd want him to have treatment abroad as well.

They went to Spain to sign the papers because he'd sold his flat to pay for the treatment.

The Czech clinic is ready to treat him but his parents are in handcuffs, detained in Spain. He was only allowed to see his siblings today, how frightened must he have been?

The law is an ass.

well said Guinevere

OFITG has said it all.

I have just been reading about Proton Beam treatment for cancer.

It's weird that the NHS uses it in Brtain at The Clatterbridge Centre for Cancer NHS Foundation Trust in the Wirral Merseyside which treats eye cancer with Proton Beam.

Also the paper (Yorkshire Evening Post) says quote """ Patients can also access proton beam therapy abroad through NHS Funding.
They must be assessed by a panel who may decide patients are not suitable if there will be no clinical benefit from the treatment.NHS England says""""

So why oh Why didn't the Oncologist suggest to the parents to send Ayasha abroad for the treatment.

I heard someone say that it's not really recommended for use on children. I haven't researched why not.

TBH we all know how long it takes for a panel to decide whether a patient can travel abroad for treatment. My friend gave up and paid for her own travel costs and treatment for a joint replacement as she was waiting for 18 months!

I would agree that Ashya's parents took him out of the hospital before they could make him a ward of court. Once that happens they have no say in his care. Although I would have thought that his consultant could have shown enough understanding and compassion to let them go and supply the medical equipment they would need for the car journey. They were leaving AMA so the hospital couldn't be held accountable for anything that went disastrously wrong.

Now one thing that does surprise me is that their local Kingdom Hall didn't arrange for funds to be made available for the treatment.

Anyhow I hope Ashya gets the treatment he needs and it's successful.

I agree there is more to this than meets the eye the hosiptal has duty of care to patient and so do his parents I understood it that the parents refused treatment for the child as they are JW or am I getting mixed up with someone else?

As to why the police got involved in the manner they did, suffice to say, don't get me started on the over the top approach police forces have have used in the past to dealt with various issues.

As an earlier post said, the police are damned if they do act and damned if they don't act, in saying that I am not saying that they should not have acted, a complaint was made, presumably by the hospital, the police were duty bound to look into it, they looked into it and passed their finding to the Crown Prosecution Service who issued a European Arrest Warrant - from then on the whole thing went pear-shaped and one could be excused for thinking the police were hunting a gang of dangerous criminals.

I believe the way the police dealt with is issue was neither a proportionate or compassionate response - to the actions that were taken by Aysha's parents. His parents have been arrested, handcuffed, and dragged before a Spanish judge, and are currently being held in a Spanish jail, the result is that we now have a seriously ill child separated from those he needs to have beside him at this time, he is in a strange hospital bed being looked after by strangers - that to me is tragic and heartbreaking for Aysha and his family :-(

Hayley Empress of Drama - it was reported that his parents were Jehovah's Witnesses, however in all of the reports I have seen (because of my my interest in legal matters I have been following this incident closely) all of those reports say that this had not been an issue in regards to the treatment he had been receiving.