Alex Batty: Police launch investigation into teenager’s alleged abduction
Police have begun a criminal inquiry into the alleged abduction of Alex Batty, the teenager who went missing for six years.
Alex vanished in 2017 at the age of 11, after going on holiday with his mother, who was not his legal guardian, and his grandfather.
Alex, now 17, returned to the UK last Saturday after an argument with his mother that prompted him to flee.
It has emerged that he lied to French police, telling them his grandfather had died to try to protect him from being arrested. The whereabouts of David Batty, Alex’s grandfather, and Melanie Batty, his mother, remain unknown.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said on Friday it was investigating Alex’s disappearance. It is unclear if GMP has contacted Interpol to help with the search for Alex’s mother and grandfather.
In a statement, the force said: “Greater Manchester Police has launched a criminal investigation into child abduction to understand the circumstances surrounding Alex Batty going missing from 30 September 2017 to 13 December 2023.”
The investigation, sources stressed, remained at an early stage, which they described as complex.
Speaking for the first time, Alex told The Sun newspaper that one final row with his 43-year-old mother had prompted him to flee, quitting a nomadic lifestyle that had seen the family moving around Europe.
He told the newspaper: “She’s a great person and I love her but she’s just not a great mum.”
He also disclosed to the newspaper that he had given a false story to French police after being picked up at 3am as he walked along the side of a road near a campsite about 60 miles south of Toulouse on December 13.
He had been walking for 22 miles over the course of two days, after leaving a house rented by his mother not far from the Pyrenees.
But he told police he had been walking for four days to throw them off the track in tracing his mother and grandfather.
The Sun reported that Alex told police his that grandfather, who had been a tattoo artist, had died six months ago.
But Alex told The Sun: “He moved me to a property with mum. I know he’s not passed away, but I don’t know where he is because he was just moving around.”
The boy’s mother’s whereabouts are also unclear. She had discussed with friends travelling to Finland to see the Northern Lights, but Alex said: “I don’t know if she’s gone there.”
‘Relief and happiness’
It is suggested she left the area in southern France where they had been living after Alex was picked up.
He has since returned home to Oldham, in Greater Manchester, to live with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who was his legal guardian at the time he vanished.
Mrs Caruana issued a statement after Alex had been found in which she declared: “I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well,” adding: “I spoke with him last night and it was so good to hear his voice and see his face again.”
Alex had decided that after being in Europe for six years that he wanted to return to the UK and go to university to study.
He had worked alongside his grandfather, doing odd jobs, to earn money for food and rent. He said his mother had not been “open to any other options” over their lifestyle but that his grandfather was a “listener”.
Alex had travelled through Europe under the assumed name Zack Edwards, telling The Sun: “I’ve been lying to try and protect my Mum and Grandad but I realise that they’re probably gonna get caught anyway.”
He told how he gave his grandmother Susan a “massive hug” when they were reunited. Mrs Caruana was granted guardianship of Alex on Thursday until he turns 18.
