HE’S HOME
Alex Batty reunited with family after returning to the UK for the first time in six years following ‘kidnapping’ ordeal
The boy spent the last six years living in a 'nomadic spiritual community' with his mother
ALEX Batty is finally reunited with his family after landing in the UK last night - six years after his mum and granddad allegedly kidnapped him while on holiday in Spain.
The Brit boy, 17, met his stepfather at France's Toulouse Blagnac airport on Saturday afternoon, flying via Amsterdam before touching down in Manchester later in the evening.
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Confirming his arrival, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle of Greater Manchester Police, said: "Earlier today Alex met with a family member alongside Greater Manchester Police officers at Toulouse airport, before heading back to the UK.
"This moment is undoubtedly huge for him and his loved ones and we are glad that they have been able to see each other again after all this time."
He was "accompanied by members of the British police services" on the plane, French authorities said.
A passenger on the Netherlands to Manchester leg said Alex - wearing a white hoodie and carrying a skateboard - was let off the plane as a priority.
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Erin O’Connell, from Manchester, told the Mail on Sunday: "When we landed we were told to sit back down while he got off.
"He had two adults with him. We had to wait 20 minutes to get off."
With his hood pulled over his head, Alex was tonight escorted by police officers to be reunited with his grandmother in Oldham.
Greater Manchester Police told a press conference on Saturday night enquiries are ongoing in his disappearance but the case is not being treated as an abduction investigation at present.
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Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle added: "Our continued focus is supporting Alex and his family in partnership with other local agencies to ensure they are safe, their wellbeing is looked after, and his reintegration with society is as easy as possible."
ACC Boyle said that French authorities have "disclosed detailed information" about where Alex has been for the last six years but GMP has not yet spoken to the teen, reports.
"We are yet to establish the full circumstances surrounding his disappearance, but no matter what, understand that this may be an overwhelming process," he said.
"He may now be six years older than when he went missing, but he is still a young person."
The force will speak with Alex "at a pace that feels comfortable to him" to determine whether a criminal investigation into his disappearance will ensue.
DISCOVERY
It was 3am on Wednesday when a delivery driver picked Alex up after spotting him wandering along a rural road in the pouring rain near the Pyrenees mountains.
The boy told driver Fabien Accidini he had been hiking for four days and nights after leaving a "spiritualist" community he lived in with mum Melanie and granddad David Batty.
According to Toulouse's deputy prosecutor Antoine Lery, Alex said his mum had a kind of "obsession" with solar panels and the trio lived off-grid.
They had moved between Spain and Morocco but spent the last two years living a "nomadic" lifestyle in various communities across southern France.
As Accidini drove the teen to a police station, Alex told him "I need a future" before using the driver's phone to Facebook message his gran Susan Caruana.
I love you I want to come home
Alex's text to his gran
He told her: "Hello grandma it is me Alex i am in France Toulouse i really hope that you receive this message i love you i want to come home."
French authorities previously claimed his granddad David had died six months ago with Alex attending a "meditation" ceremony in his honour.
But neighbours in the tiny hamlet of La Bastide, in the Pyrenees, told The Sun he is "alive" and had been seen "mowing the grass" at his Gite.
One neighbour, named Sebastian, said on Saturday: “Peter is not dead. I saw him a week ago, maybe ten days ago."
Local mayor Rolande Alibert, 76, also believes the granddad was still alive.
She said: “No, he can’t have died six months ago. He’s been here recently.”
MISSED CHANCES
Alex left the UK with Melanie and David on September 30, 2017, for a holiday in Malaga, Spain.
Aged just 11, he was due to return to the UK on October 8 but never did.
Melanie may currently be in Finland.
Greater Manchester Police said she is currently not a suspect in Alex's disappearance but they would like to speak to her.
Other reports suggested Alex could have been rescued last month if blundering French authorities had attempted to identify him when he pleaded for a place in a local school.
He was taken to a police station in Quillan, near remote La Bastide, after he tried to enrol without any ID papers.
Officers did not realise the English-speaking teenager was missing Alex and did not contact UK authorities — even though he had not been to school for six years.
It meant the teen had to return to the community before his trek to escape.
Nobody made the connection with the missing boy from six years ago
French police
A French police source said: “A report was filed about a British national but nobody made the connection with the missing boy from six years ago.
“We were dealing with a 17-year-old who wanted to start classes — there was no huge concern about his welfare.
“There was simply an error in the system.”
Alex’s aunt Maureen, of Nelson, Lancs, said: “The French haven’t told us a lot. I refuse to believe this is all real until I see him in person.”
Maureen said she hoped the police would now track down Melanie and quiz her over Alex’s disappearance.
She said: “We don’t even know if she’s still in France or if she’s in Finland.
“Hopefully Alex will give the police some information.”
She said the family had been told nothing official about David — although they had been informed he had died in France six months ago.
She said: “We’re devastated. We don’t know how or when he died. We’ve not been told anything officially.
“As soon as Alex is home we’ll know more, but at the moment we’re all in shock about David.”
A small team of detectives from Greater Manchester Police flew to France on Friday with orders to escort Alex home.
They are also thought to have quizzed him over the case.
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They boarded a KLM flight at Toulouse-Blagnac airport with the teen at 5pm local time.
The KLM service was bound for Amsterdam from where they took a connecting flight to Manchester.
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