UK withdrawing arrest warrant for Ashya King’s parents

Ashya King’s case has riveted Britain, with heated debate as to whether authorities acted acceptably in chasing the parents through Europe after they left Southampton General Hospital last week without the consent of doctors. Hampshire Police / AP PhotoShow less

LONDON // UK prosecutors are withdrawing the arrest warrant in the case of a British couple who took their 5-year-old son out of the country in hopes of getting a new type of radiation therapy for his brain tumour.

The Crown Prosecution Service made the move Tuesday in a hearing at Britain’s High Court.

Ashya King’s case has riveted Britain, with heated debate as to whether authorities acted acceptably in chasing the parents through Europe after they left Southampton General Hospital last week without the consent of doctors.

Brett and Naghemeh King took Ashya out of England and travelled to Spain, where they planned to sell a property to pay at least US$33,000 (Dh121,217) for proton beam radiation therapy in the Czech Republic or the US. They were arrested on a British warrant.

But police on Tuesday said the current situation was “not right.” Andy Marsh, chief constable of Hampshire Police, says their intent was to secure his safety — “not to deny him family support at this particularly challenging time in his life.”

Britain’s leader also waded into the national argument as to whether it was appropriate to throw the full weight of the law at a British couple.

David Cameron, the prime minister, told the radio station LBC that the plight of Ashya reminded him of his late son Ivan, who had cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The prime minister recalled having his own son sit on his lap and feeding him through a tube.

“I just hope there’ll be an outbreak of common sense — and a rapid outbreak of common sense — so that the family can be reunited with this young boy and the best treatment can be given to him, either in the United Kingdom or elsewhere,” he said.

A Spanish court spokesman declined immediate comment on when the parents could be released, but a lawyer for the couple said the judge has the options of releasing them immediately or having them stay overnight in jail to be released at the previously scheduled court hearing at 10am (1pm UAE) Wednesday.

“The only reason for them to stay in prison has expired,” lawyer Francesco Luca Caronna said. “If the system works, they should open the doors to the jail immediately.”

* Associated Press