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 told driver ‘my mother kidnapped me'
Alex went missing six years ago while on holiday with his mother and grandad and was found just last week in France.
The lorry driver who found him described how he picked up the now 17-year-old and told La Depeche that the Oldham teen that he originally said his name was Zach.
Fabien Accidini, a chiropractic student from Toulouse who has a part-time job delivering medicines by lorry, said: “He said his mother kidnapped him when he was 12 years old. Since then, he had lived in Spain in a luxury house with around ten people.”
‘I’ve been lying’, Alex says
“I’ve been lying to try and protect my mum and grandad, but I realise that they’re probably gonna get caught anyway,” Alex Batty told The Sun in a new interview after he was discovered after vanishing six years ago.
Contrary to the initial reports, Alex said that his actual journey was a two-day hike. He first travelled to Quillan to feign seeking directions before heading towards Toulouse.
Alex was aged just 11 when he was first reported missing in 2017 after travelling to Europe on holiday. He says he was living with his mother and grandfather for at least two of the six years since he vanished in Malaga, Spain and that they spent time at a “spiritual” commune in southern France.
Speaking to The Sun, Alex admitted that he fabricated the now widely-circulated story of his four-day journey to escape the commune. The false narrative was crafted in the hope that it would deter police from tracking down his mother and grandfather, who could face arrest on suspicion of child abduction.
Why did Alex decide to come back to the UK after six years?
Police have launched a criminal investigation into the alleged abduction of teenager Alex Batty after formally interviewing him.
Alex went missing six years ago while on holiday in Spain with his mother, who was not his legal guardian, and his grandfather.
The teenager, who is now under the legal guardianship of his grandmother, Susan Caruana, in Oldham, Greater Manchester, said his mother was “anti-government, anti-vax”, whose catchphrase was “becoming a slave to the system”.
He had become fed up with his nomadic lifestyle, with “no friends” and “no social life”.
It is thought Alex had been living with his mother and grandfather, who had taken him to Spain in September 2017, across Spain, Morocco and France while he was missing.
Last week French prosecutors said the teenager’s mother, Melanie Batty may be in Finland.
Antoine Leroy told reporters Alex had said he knew his way of life with his mother “had to stop” after she said she intended to move there.
What did Alex lie about?
Alex Batty has admitted he lied when he was first picked up by French authorities in order to protect his mother and grandad.
Speaking to The Sun, Alex admitted that he fabricated the now widely-circulated story of his four-day journey to escape the commune.
“I’ve been lying to try and protect my mum and grandad, but I realise that they’re probably gonna get caught anyway,” Alex said.
Contrary to the initial reports, Alex said that his actual journey was a two-day hike and that he knew where he was going.
He also revealed that his grandad is in fact alive - despite telling authorities he had died six months ago - but he did not know where he was.
Pausing updates
We are pausing our live coverage on the return of missing teenager Alex Batty for now.
Here’s a roundup of what happened today:
- Alex Batty said he had initially lied to authorities in an effort to prevent his mother and grandfather from being arrested.
- He also said his grandfather was alive but he did not know where he was.
- The 17-year-old made his decision to return to the UK as he had become fed up with his nomadic lifestyle, with “no friends” and “no social life”.
- Greater Manchester Police have now launched a criminal investigation into the alleged abduction of Alex Batty having now formally interviewed him.
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