Ashya King parents fear social services will take son away if they return to Britain
THE parents of miracle brain cancer survivor Ashya King fear their son will be taken into care if they return to the UK.
Brett and Naghmeh King, who sparked an international manhunt after taking the five-year-old out of a Southampton hospital, said they feared their son could be taken into care.
The couple yesterday told how Ashya had made a "miracle" recovery after receiving proton beam therapy which was initially not available to him on the NHS.
The Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) in Prague, where he received the treatment last year, said it was "thrilled" to hear news that a recent scan showed no sign of a tumour.
But, with Ashya now recovering at the family's holiday home in Spain, said they want UK authorities to give them an all-clear.
"We feel exiled. We want to return to the UK but as thins stand we are here for the long term," Mr King, 51, told The Sun.
"We want someone to tell us nothing will be held against us. But they won't.
"So why would we move back thinking that at any moment someone could knock on our door with the police and take our children?
"The thought of them taking Ashya away from us rips our hearts in two."
Mr King also claimed he had been questioned by police when he had returned to England in November.
Portsmouth City Council's head of children and social care Stephen Kitchman reportedly emailed the family to say he could not give a "definitive answer" on what would happen should they return.
But Michael Lawther, the council's solicitor, said no legal action was in progress and "therefore it is not a council matter whether the King family returns".
Mr King previously said his son's recovery justified their actions in taking him from Southampton General Hospital last August to Spain, sparking an international arrest warrant.
The Kings were arrested in Spain after fleeing the UK and spent several nights in prison away from their son, before being released .
A High Court judge approved the move to take Ashya to Prague for proton therapy, which the PTC said is more effective than the radiotherapy Ashya was being offered on the NHS.
It limits the collateral damage of radiation to other vital organs, such as the heart and liver in Ashya's case.
This would lead to less severe long-term side-effects including heart and breathing problems.
The therapy was not offered to him on the NHS, although the health service later agreed to fund Ashya's treatment in Prague.
