Little boy has been removed from hospital by his parents

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He is very sick, needs constant treatment. His parents have taken him to France.

I don't understand why the hospital didn't notice or alert the police for 6 hours.

The police won't comment on the parents being Jehovah's Witnesses.

It sounds wrong when the statement said he was removed without consent. The child is theirs, should be allowed to be in charge of him, but of course it is he that will lose his life if not cared for and that isn't in his best interests necessarily.

I hope he is found and can be cured.

It is appalling that the poor boy has been separated from his parents. I don't know what the attitude of the Spanish courts or Spanish doctors is, but I hope they establish that he is not being neglected and ensure his parents can stay with him.

Seems like a terrible breakdown of trust between the parents and the doctors. The hospital say they were quite prepared to help the parents seek therapy abroad which sounds odd - if so, why would the parents leave the country?

Also odd that the doctors painted such a false picture of the situation to justify the search. Sure, look for him to check his welfare, but making out his life was in danger on the journey (any more than it is anyway) seems a massive exaggeration. Plain wrong to use that to justify using police resources internationally to hunt down a family who had done nothing illegal.

When I first heard about this story I thought perhaps it was a case of the parents not wanting to accept that their son would be disabled and would rather he have a peaceful death outside hospital. These things happen.

Now I think the opposite, that the NHS trust can't accept that this child might be cured as they would have to foot the bill for his care for a few years more. They would prefer to blast his brain with radiation because it's cheaper that way.

The NHS is truly broken.

Just heard that The parents have refused extradition. Wise move. The can hopefully now sell their house and pay for this treatment. Any damage caused by the NHS to this boy will be their responsibility.

Is there any way in which we can get Mumsnet support for this? This is a scandal tbh.

And to extradite the parents back to the UK? AFAIK from the reporting it seems they haven't even committed any crime, so WTF?

They are refusing to accept to go back to the UK.

Does being a ward of court now mean this child can be flown back to the UK and this invasive treatment started while his parents are still in Spain?

No, the hospital isn't planning on any invasive treatment.

Chech Dr says he is suitable for Proton beam therapy and he will do it in a few days, if the old hospital will allow it

It's not just a matter of the hospital allowing it, it's a question of someone paying for it. The hospital has already said it's happy for the family to seek alternative treatment.

Listening to the legal expertson the news it would appear that the district judge and High Court would needed to have been assurred that a rime had taken place and that once extrdited the parents would be charged with that crime.

The crime appears to be neglect according to some sources and child cruelty according to some other Spanish sources.

Meanwhile the Police in the UK have stated that they don't think a crime has been committed They have sent investigating officers to Spain and the parents have not been charged with anything yet. That would happen once they are extradited.

Meanwhile what is really riling me is the Police Commissioner for Hampshire stating that the best thing is for Ashya to be returned to the UK where he can receive this 'live-saving treatment'. He should keep his mouth shut as he is not an oncologist specialist so he should have no official view whatsoever on the best treatment path for the child.

This is stinking of the nanny state at its worst.

I pity any parents who have to use SGH.

Parents will be in court tomorrow, we don't have much time to push this campaign and put pressure on those who can end this mess. Please get your friends, family and colleagues involved. If anyone can think of a way to get Mumsnet involved and supporting this campaign that would be great:

Here is a compilation of how you can support the Kings:

- Youtube Account www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-ashya-king - Donate

[email protected] - Email Police & Crime Commissioner
www.hampshire-pcc.gov.uk/Contact/Contact-Us.aspx

www.change.org/p/police-david-cameron-and-co-release-brett-and-naghemeh-and-allow-them-to-choose-treatment-for-son-ashya?share_id=fKLEpgwqAy&utm_campaign=share_button_action_box&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition - Sign the petition

twitter.com/Fight4AshyaKing - Twitter

www.facebook.com/groups/1462059947403801/?fref=ts - FB Group

Contact your MP:

www.theyworkforyou.com/

Dear X,

I am writing to you as my MP to express my disgust at the treatment of the King family. As you know, the parents of Ashya King have been pursued to Spain, where they were arrested and are now appearing in court for extradition. The family have done nothing wrong, they were simply seeking the best treatment they could for their son.

The current situation, where Ashya is alone in hospital and his parents are not allowed to visit him, is the cruellest of all, and can be in the interests of no one. Please bring any pressure to bear that you may, to stop the authorities pursuing this matter, and to allow the family the freedom to find alternative treatments.

I know that the King family is not in your constituency, but I think the issues of state control and parental choice are ones that should involve all of us.

Feel free to amend the above template.

This situation is so scary, and I can easily see how this could happen to anyone. I am not in the UK but here in Canada I have known people to also be threatened with child protection issues if they refuse to go along with doctors. It is outrageous that doctors are given so much power.

If Ashya is being guarded by police I don't see what harm it would do to hold the parents at the hospital rather than in a jail.

I have signed the petition also.

I hope those parents know how much support they have.

Icimoi, you say the hospital aren't planning 'invasive' treatment, but this is misleading. They may not be planning surgery - but chemotherapy and radiotherapy can bring significant health risks and damage healthy organs. I think I would be physically ill if the NHS let it go this far.

they took him into "care" on Friday

If the information in the public domain is all there is to know

It probably isn't. It is very rare for all information to be in the public domain at this stage.

If there are other reasons the Kings are being held in police custody, that we are not party to, someone needs to step up and say so NOW

Why? You and I don't have any inherent right to know all the details of the case. And if there are going to be criminal charges the authorities would potentially be prejudicing any future trial if they give too much information, which could result in the case being thrown out without a proper hearing.

Even on the information that is being given it is clear that there is a huge disconnect between the family's version of events and the hospital's. Whilst it is possible one side is lying, my experience is that the truth usually lies somewhere between the two versions of events.

I agree that if what is being said by the family is correct this is a disgrace. But it is quite possible that the reality is significantly different from the version most people currently believe.

Put into Care by a council that could do better:

www.ofsted.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/local_authority_reports/portsmouth/051_Single%20inspection%20of%20LA%20children%27s%20services%20and%20review%20of%20the%20LSCB%20as%20pdf.pdf

I cannot find the words to express how I feel about the way these people are being treated. I want to say outraged but that doesn't even come close. It seems to me that the consultant is incredibly arrogant and does not want to accept that his opinion could be wrong and the hospital and police want to save face because backing down now means admitting that they got it completely wrong. Their "crime" was going against medical advice, people do that every day as is our right as human beings. Does this mean people who don't get their children vaccinated will be prosecuted now or women having high risk pregnancies can be taken to hospital against their will if they were planning to have a homebirth? Heads need to roll over this.

I wonder if the eldest son has been able to speak to hs parents and tell them what a lot of support the family has. I would imagine they would like to know how their other children are coping too.
Like most people I am horrified by the treatment the parents are receiving and hope they can get Aysha to the hospital for the treatment they would like him to have.

interesting that Portsmouth council SS dept 'requires improvement'. Wondered why we hadn't heard from them.

Good on the MEP,Janice Atkinson, asking questions.

prh47bridge it's clear that there has been a massive breakdown of trust between parents and doctors. However, it is very clear that either/or the hospital and the police have misled the public and the media, and for all we know the Spanish police, by stating that Ashya's life was in immediate danger from running out of feed/the machine running out of batteries. They only found him by exaggerating and falsely pretending he was in massive danger.

Having misrepresented that, and given a false impression of the urgency of the situation, it does seem less likely that the hospital are 100 per cent right and the parents 100 per cent wrong.

They have refused to consent to their extradition to the UK.

Does this mean that there's a possibility their son will be taken to the UK while they stay in Spain or are they hoping for the Spanish court to support them?

If he's in care then the parents won't be solely responsible for the decision that are made re his future care. I imagine their chances of being able to secure their preferred proton b treatment have rapidly finished

So the message is loud and clear. Disagree with the NHS and your child will be taken into care. D you will end up handcuffed and sitting in a prison cell.

I hope Hampshire police Southampton hospital and Portsmouth SS are truly proud of themselves

What is being done with my taxes is making me beak.

This country stinks

...Gimme, I hope others now follow suit. It's all well and good Cameron being "understanding"- but we are now approaching night two of the family being separated. So so wrong. Maybe if more MEPs, MPs and others start speaking out then something more substantial can be done.

I think every parent/patient in the UK needs to be take note of this EXAMPLE by those we fund and vote into power.