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.
Alex Batty’s mother ‘belong to spirutalist group’, French TV reports
France’s BFM TV reported Alex’s mother belonged to a spiritualist group without a fixed residence, moving around the region known as a destination for people in pursuit of an alternative way of life in caravans and tents.
A search operation to find her has been started, the television station added.
“We still have some work to do in establishing the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance and where he has been in all those years,” Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes of Greater Manchester Police said.
“At the moment the priority is speaking to Alex ... but obviously his mother is part of that conversation and investigation.”
Alex Batty: Timeline of British boy’s disappearance as he’s found after six years
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Alex Batty was spotted walking alone on an isolated country road in Toulouse by a student delivery driver.
But when and why did Alex originally go missing? The Independent has put together a timeline below:
The now 17-year-old from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was 11 years old when he went missing in 2017. He went on holiday to Marbella, Spain, on a pre-agreed trip with his mother Melanie 37, and grandfather David, 58, when he was apparently “abducted” by his mother.
His grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana stayed at home in the UK. Inquiries at the time suggested he may have travelled from Malaga to Melilla on the Moroccan border. Police then launched an investigation.
Speaking to reporters after his disappearance, Ms Caruana said: “On the Sunday, they were due back in the afternoon and my husband was going to pick them up. I got this message on Facebook and it was a YouTube video of the three of them.
Alex Batty: Timeline of British boy’s disappearance as he’s found after six years
Alex Batty went missing six years ago in October 2017 after going on a family holiday to Marbella
Missing Oldham teen Alex Batty told French driver who found him ‘my mother kidnapped me’
A British boy who has been missing for six years told the French lorry driver who found him walking alone on an isolated country road: ‘My mother kidnapped me when I was 12 years old’.
Startling details of now 17-year-old Alex Batty’s ordeal began to emerge on Thursday evening, after it was confirmed he had been found safe and well.
The youngster, from Fitton Hill in Oldham, went abroad with his mother Melanie Batty who does not have legal parental guardianship, and his grandfather David Batty on a pre-agreed trip in 2017. However, they did not return to England as expected on October 8 2017 and he had not been seen since.
Fabien Accidini, a chiropractic student from Toulouse who has a part-time job delivering medicines by lorry, said he spotted the English teenager on Wednesday.
Missing Oldham teen Alex Batty told driver who found him ‘my mother kidnapped me’
Lorry driver discovered missing British boy Alex Batty walking in the mountains in France and offered to give him a lift
The French police are giving an update now. Stay tuned while we keep you with the latest.
Alex Batty ‘does not describe any kind of physical violence’ in past six years
Speaking to a press conference today, Antoine Leroy, the assistant public prosecutor in Toulouse, said: “[Alex Batty] was living with his mother and his maternal grandfather.
“He doesn’t describe any kind of physical violence. We can’t use the term ‘sect’ as such but he talked about some kind of spiritual community.”
He added: “It was always the same way of living. They got food based on allotments. There was work on the ego, meditation work.”
Mr Leroy confirmed that Alex Batty will be returning to the UK, but his grandmother will not go to France to collect him because she is “too frail”.
Alex Batty “talked a lot” about how his mother and grandfather were “obsessed” with solar energy and solar panels which they “travelled with”.
Mr Leroy described their lifestyle as a “nomadic life”.
Antoine Leroy, the assistant public prosecutor in Toulouse said it is “difficult” to understand the education level of Alex Batty since he does not speak French.
However, he said Alex appears to be a “normal, young teen”.
Alex Batty’s mother and grandfather were living in a community with different families of different nationalities, the assistant public prosecutor confirmed.
Alex Batty left his mother after she said she was leaving for Finland
French prosecutors have said Alex Batty knew the life he was having with his mother “had to stop” after she announced intentions to move to Finland.
Toulouse Assistant Public Prosecutor Antoine Leroy told reporters: “When his mother indicated that she was going to leave with him to Finland, this young man understood that this had to stop.
“So he then decided to leave the place where he was with his mother and he went walking for four days and four nights.
“He was exclusively walking at night and sleeping in the day.”
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