Police launch criminal investigation into alleged child abduction over Alex Batty disappearance

UK

A criminal investigation has been launched into alleged child abduction in connection with Alex Batty – who reappeared this month after going missing six years ago.

The investigation has been launched by Greater Manchester Police.

Alex, now 17, has returned to the UK after spending years in France and Spain with his mother and grandfather.

He was taken on holiday when he was 11 – away from his grandmother and legal guardian – and never returned until now.

The teenager, from Oldham, fled his mother this month and was found walking in the French Pyrenees mountains six years after his disappearance.

Image:
The Sun front page

In a newspaper interview, the teenager said it felt “surreal” to be home and he still goes to sleep not expecting to wake up in England.

He was 11 when he went on holiday with his mother Melanie Batty – who does not have legal parental guardianship – and his grandfather David Batty, 59, in 2017.

More on Alex Batty

He never returned and is said to have lived an “alternative” lifestyle abroad before deciding to return home.

Speaking to the Sun newspaper, the 17-year-old said he spent six years wandering around Europe with his mum and grandfather and first thought of leaving when he was 14.

He finally returned to the UK last weekend and says he is now staying with his grandmother in Oldham.

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