Police investigating alleged abduction of British teen Alex Batty who went lacking 6 years in the past

LONDON — A prison investigation was launched into the alleged abduction of British teenager Alex Batty, who was discovered final week in France six years after his mom and grandfather took him on a trip and by no means returned residence, Greater Manchester police stated Friday.

Batty, 17, returned to Oldham, close to Manchester, on Saturday and was reunited along with his grandmother – the authorized guardian who had made frantic and emotional appeals through the years for his return.

A supply driver discovered Batty strolling alongside a highway in southern France in the midst of the evening Dec. 13. The boy instructed police he had been dwelling a nomadic way of life in Spain, Morocco and France along with his mom and grandfather as a part of a “spiritual community” and determined to go away when his mom talked about going to Finland.

Authorities in France stated final week that they thought his mom, Melanie Batty, may very well be in Finland and that his grandfather, David Batty, appeared to have died, however neither of these particulars appeared clear after the teenager gave his first interview.

Batty instructed The Sun newspaper that he feared his mom and grandfather may very well be arrested on suspicion of kid abduction, so he had lied about his escape.

Batty had left the place that they had been staying two days earlier – not 4 days as he initially reported – and offered different particulars he thought would throw investigators off their path, he stated.

“I’ve been lying to try and protect my mum and grandad but I realize that they’re probably gonna get caught anyway,” he instructed The Sun. “I pretended I had been on such a long journey for that reason.”

Batty stated that the complete time he had been away he solely made pals with one youngster his personal age – a Spanish woman. He didn’t go to highschool, needed to work, had no social life and started to query his future.

He had thought of leaving for no less than two years and even mentioned it along with his mother and grandfather.

“I wouldn’t know what was going to happen in my future if I were to stay with my mum, but from the past few years I could get a picture of what life would have been like,” Batty stated. “Moving around. No friends, no social life. Working, working, work and not studying. That’s the life I imagined I would be leading if I were to stay with my mum.”

He stated his mom was towards him leaving.

“She was very anti-government, anti-vax,” Batty stated. “She was worried that if I were to go back to a country and get my ID I would be put into care. Her catchphrase was becoming a ‘slave to the system.’”

He stated he left the farmhouse the place that they had been staying close to Chalabre within the Aude area of southern France round midnight on Dec. 11 after his mom was in mattress.

“She’s a great person and I love her but she’s just not a great mum,” he stated.

He took a backpack with 4 T-shirts, three pairs of trousers, a skateboard, flashlight, 100 euros and a Swiss Army Knife.

Batty stated he was shaking when he walked into his grandmother’s home and gave her a “massive hug.”

He stated he desires to go to varsity to check pc science or cyber safety or blockchain growth. He stated he was joyful to be residence.

“The house is different now but still feels the same,” he stated. “The biggest difference is when I left I was a boy but now I’m 6 feet (1.8 meters) so I’m too big for the bed. It feels great to be back.”