Ashya King Parents Still Fear UK Authorities

The parents of cancer patient Ashya King say they will not return to the UK because they still fear the authorities may take their son away from them.

Speaking exclusively to Sky News in Prague, Brett and Naghmeh King said they plan to continue Ashya's treatment in Spain and will not return to Britain until they are satisfied it is "safe" to do so.

The couple sparked a Europe-wide search when they took him out of a Southampton hospital without medical consent.

Ashya, who was being treated for a brain tumour, has been well enough to play with toys as his treatment at a state-of-the-art therapy centre in the Czech Republic comes to an end today.

The five-year-old's father told Sky: "At the moment we don't feel 100% safe, I suppose you would call it, contemplating being in England until perhaps they do this investigation into how everything was conducted for us.

"Once that has been established then we can think about going back to England.

"But for the time being we have been in contact with a doctor in Spain so we are continuing with treatment in Spain instead of England."

Asked why they were reluctant to return to Britain, Mr King said: "Because there is so much still at stake.

"We wouldn't want to lose Ashya. It would probably never happen but just having that small risk that you don't have to do anything wrong to have your children taken away and (be) thrown in prison..."

Mrs King said she hoped as Ashya's condition improves, people would understand why the couple decided to go against the advice of doctors in Britain.

She told Sky: "Ashya's really, really well and the whole world, or England, can see as good parents we've tried our hardest to help him, to make sure he has the best treatment."

Ashya has completed the last of his 30 sessions of proton beam irradiation at the Proton Therapy Center (PTC) in the Czech capital, six weeks after starting treatment .

Staff at the clinic say he is making good progress and is even well enough to have attended a special end-of-treatment party with his family and medics at the centre.

PTC director Iva Tatounova told Sky News Ashya had not been affected by side effects from his treatment, which can include headaches and vomiting.

She said: "He was able to slowly but surely recover and since he's been undergoing rehabilitation and occupational therapy he is now able to move his limbs and play with his toys and react to his surroundings.

Ashya's parents took him from Southampton General Hospital in August without telling his doctors after an operation to remove his tumour.

The family, including all of Ashya's six brothers and sisters, then went to Spain with a view to selling their apartment there to fund the proton treatment.

Hospital officials in Southampton alerted police, fearing Ashya's life was in danger without proper medical care.

Mr and Mrs King were arrested in Spain and Ashya was cared for in a Spanish clinic.

The parents were later released and reunited with Ashya and flew by air ambulance to Prague for the treatment, which is not widely available in the UK.

Ashya's case gained massive international media attention and charities raised tens of thousands of pounds to fund the approximately £65,000 cost of the proton treatment.

In the end the NHS agreed that it would fund the therapy , after having initially refused, which is why the Kings felt they had to take Ashya to Prague on their own.

A leading cancer specialist from Spain, Dr Hernan Cortes-Funes has already visited the PTC in Prague to meet the Kings and get up to speed on Ashya's treatment so far.