Alex Batty now centre of investigation as police interview boy who went missing in Spain - live
Officers have officially launched a criminal investigation into the alleged abduction of the teenager who went missing six years ago while on holiday in Spain
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Greater Manchester Police have launched a criminal investigation into the alleged child abduction of Alex Batty after the teenager was formally interviewed by officers.
The 17-year-old made headlines across the world when he was discovered walking on an isolated road in Toulouse, six years after being reported missing while on holiday with his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.
He initially said he had been hiking for four days before being found.
It comes after he told The Sun that he lied over his escape from France to protect his mother and grandfather. He said: “I didn’t get lost. I knew exactly where I was going.”
The teenager also said he’d wanted to return home ot his grandmother, Susan Caruana, his legal guardian, to go to college. He said that the reunion with Ms Caruana had other family members had been emotional.
Police to do ‘further checks’ on Alex when he returns to the UK
Greater Manchester Police told a press conference this morning: “This is a huge moment for Alex and his family and the whole community in Oldham.”
The police added that Alex and his grandmother “briefly” spoke on the phone on Thursday evening, and while his grandmother is content that Alex has been correctly identified, the police said they “have further checks to do when he returns to the UK”.
‘Still work to do’ in establishing ‘full circumstances’ around disappearance- police
Continuing to give an update on the Alex Batty case, Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes of Greater Manchester Police said: “Our main priority now is to see Alex returned home to his family in the UK and our investigation team are working around the clock with partner agencies and the French authorities to ensure they are all fully supported.
“Alex and his family remain our focus and we still have some work to do in establishing the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance and where he has been in all those years.
“I can only imagine the emotions they have experienced as a family throughout this ordeal.”
Alex Batty to return to the UK ‘in next few days’, police say
Greater Manchester Police said they hope Alex will return to the UK “in the next few days”.
In a press conference on Friday, Mr Sykes told reporters: “The young man and Alex’s grandmother spoke on a video call last night and whilst she is content that this is indeed Alex, we obviously have further checks to do when he returns to the United Kingdom.
“Our main priority now is to see Alex returned home to his family in the UK and our investigation team are working around the clock with partner agencies and the French authorities to ensure they are all fully supported.
“Alex and his family remain our focus and we still have some work to do in establishing the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance and where he has been in all those years.”
Watch: ‘Abducted’ Alex Batty has video called grandmother since being found, police say
Alex Batty mapped: Missing teen’s key known movements from Spanish holiday to discovery in France
Almost 1,000 miles away from his home, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, a delivery driver spotted 17-year-old Alex Batty walking along a road in the foothills of the Pyrenees.
The driver offered him a lift and the missing British teenager, from Oldham in Greater Manchester, reportedly soon told him that he had been living in France for the past two years after moving there from a luxury house in Spain — where he went on holiday six years ago and never returned.
The driver, a chiropody student called Fabien Accidini who alerted local police, discovered Alex near the town of Revel near Toulouse, 990 miles from the teenager’s home in Fitton Hill, Oldham. The boy, whose had last been seen at the Port of Malaga in October 2017, had hiked for more than four days in an apparent attempt to return home.
Alex Batty’s key known movements mapped from Spanish holiday to discovery in France
Alex Batty was discovered walking near the French town of Revel by a delivery driver in the early hours of Wednesday morning
‘Abducted’ Alex Batty has video called grandmother since being found, police say
A missing British teenager who has been discovered in France has had a video call with his grandmother, police have said. Alex Batty, who is now 17, went missing six years ago in 2017 after going on a family holiday to Spain. On the early hours of Wednesday morning, he was spotted walking alone on an isolated country road in Toulouse by a student delivery driver. The teenager said he was “kidnapped” by his mother when he was 12-years-old. In a press conference on Friday (15 December), Greater Manchester Police said Alex and his grandmother “briefly” spoke on the phone on Thursday evening, and while his grandmother is content that Alex has been correctly identified, they “have further checks to do when he returns to the UK”.
Alex’s grandmother feeling ‘whole host of emotions’ on shock return of grandson
Questioned on how Alex and his grandmother Susan Caruana are feeling, Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes of Greater Manchester Police, said: “From what I have seen from the officers that have spoken to the grandmother, she has a whole host of emotions and feelings as you could imagine.
“The French authorities have been looking after Alex really, really well.
“Our real concern is how we bring Alex back to the UK in a safe way and make sure we look after his wellbeing.”
Map shows last known movements of teen found after six years
Here are the last known movements of Alex Batty before he was found this week in Toulouse.
Alex Batty’s family fear teenager was ‘brainwashed’ in commune while missing for six years
A teenager allegedly kidnapped by his mother and grandfather six years ago and taken to a “spiritual community” in France has been “brainwashed” by the ordeal, his family have claimed.
Asking to message his grandmother Susan Caruana, his legal guardian, he wrote to her on Facebook: “I love you, I want to come home.” The teenager was taken to police and is now expected back home in Oldham in the next few days.
But while the overjoyed family prepare to be reunited, questions remain over where the boy had been living over the past six years, the whereabouts of his mother and grandfather and the impact the period has had on him.
Alex Batty’s family fear teenager was ‘brainwashed’ while missing for six years
Relatives are overjoyed by Alex Batty’s discovery, but fear for his wellbeing after six years away
Teen’s aunt voices concern for ‘what Alex will be like when he comes home'
Alex Batty’s aunt, Maureen Batty, said the situation is a “mess” and she does not know what the teenager “will be like” when he comes home.
Speaking to the Mirror on Thursday evening, Ms Batty said she was “relieved” because she had “no idea about where he has been for the last six or seven years”.
She said: “I don’t know where his mother or grandad are and they are not pressing Alex about it yet. Alex hasn’t had any education while out there, so we don’t know what he’ll be like when he comes home. It has affected me. Alex has had it rough. It is a mess.”
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