Alex Batty to remain under special legal protection, court decides

The 17-year-old is said to be fearful of the glare of publicity.

Alex Batty, who is now 17 (Family/GMP/PA) (PA Media)

Alex Batty is fearful of the “glare of publicity” and will remain under special legal protection, a court has ruled.

The 17-year-old, who returned to the UK on Saturday, six years after disappearing on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather, was represented by lawyers at a hearing at a Family Court hearing at Manchester Civil Courts of Justice on Thursday.

Alex, who was 11 when he went missing and is now 17, had been reportedly living an itinerant lifestyle until he approached a delivery driver while walking in southern France and he went to local authorities.

A police investigation into the circumstances of his disappearance is ongoing, the court heard.

Kirstin Beswick, barrister representing Oldham Borough Council, asked for Alex to be made a ward of the court in the care of his grandmother, as he was before he disappeared with his mother and grandfather in October 2017.

Wardship means High Court judges will remain his legal guardian to oversee his welfare, provided by his grandmother with the support of Oldham Borough Council, until he turns 18 in two months-time.

Normally reports of family court hearings are subject to reporting restrictions but Deputy Judge of the High Court, Sarah Singleton KC, allowed reporting of today’s hearing.

Judge Singleton said: “It seems to me that it would makes something of a non-sense of the media’s attendance if the identity of the young person was not included with what could be reported, because, to use more casual speech, it’s out there already.

“Alex is, perhaps entirely understandably some-what fearful of the glare of publicity around his circumstances.

“There is, it seems to me, to be a legitimate public interest in reporting the outcome of a difficult set of circumstances of a young person.

“He is being supported by his maternal grandmother and Oldham Council to resume a normal life, here.”

Alex was found by chiropody student Fabien Accidini while walking alone near Toulouse in the early hours of last Wednesday.

His grandmother Susan Caruana from Oldham, Greater Manchester, said before his return to the UK: “I cannot begin to express my relief and happiness that Alex has been found safe and well.

“I spoke with him last night and it was so good to hear his voice and see his face again.

“`The main thing is that he’s safe, after what would be an overwhelming experience for anyone, not least a child.”

It is thought Alex had been living an “alternative” lifestyle with his mother, Melanie Batty and grandfather – who had taken him on the pre-arranged trip to Spain in 2017- across Spain, Morocco and France while he was missing.

Mr Accidini said the teenager told him he had been hiking in nearby mountains for more than four days in an attempt to return to England.

French prosecutors said the teenager’s mother, Melanie Batty may be in Finland while his grandfather David Batty has died.

Antoine Leroy told reporters Alex had said he knew his way of life with his mother “had to stop” after she announced an intention to move to Finland.

This led him to walk for “four days and four nights” across the Pyrenees, the prosecutor said.

On the whereabouts of Alex’s mother and grandfather, Mr Leroy said: “It is possible that the mother at this time has in fact gone to Finland, as she planned.

“The grandfather, who has always been with his daughter and grandson, is said to have died approximately six months ago.”

Alex was described as “tired” but “in good health” after being checked over by French officials and seemed “intelligent” even though he had not attended school for six years.

The prosecutor also said the boy did not appear to have been subjected to any physical violence.

Reports from southern France suggest Alex had been living on-and-off in a remote mountain farmhouse since autumn 2021, where his grandfather had worked as a handyman in exchange for room and board for he and Alex.

Owners of Gite de la Bastide, Frederic Hambye and Ingrid Beauve, told MailOnline Alex’s mother, did not live at the property and during that time she stayed in “successive places of residence between Aude and Ariege”, around 50 kilometres north and 120 kilometres west of the farmhouse.

In a statement obtained by MailOnline, they said: “As time went on, we saw him as part of our family and we think he appreciated the stability and security we represent for him.

“We encouraged him to learn French and study.

“He was eager to go to school and get back to a normal life and for that he needed his ID which he told us he no longer had.

“When we learned that he did not have an ID, we offered to drive him to the British Consulate.

“He told us he would find a way to return to the UK on his own to get new (identity) papers and go back to school.

“To this end, he told us, he left on December 17 to join his mother.”