Alex Batty Says Mother Melanie Batty’s Relationship Is “Complicated” In BBC Documentary

Alex Batty, 20, who went missing from Oldham, Greater Manchester in 2017 after his mother Melanie Batty took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather David Batty, has told a BBC documentary his relationship with her is “a complicated thing”.

“Alex Batty, 20, went missing from Oldham, Greater Manchester, in 2017”

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The BBC documentary Kidnapped By My Mum retraces his journey across Spain and France, after he chose to escape in 2023 and was found near the French city of Toulouse in December 2023 after walking across the Pyrenees.

Actu.fr

Greater Manchester Police said a criminal investigation into the alleged abduction was discontinued because there was no realistic chance of a prosecution, and the French social services bureau France Enfance Protegee told the BBC it could not comment on Alex’s specific case due to confidentiality.

In the documentary, Alex said he was “mad” that authorities did not do more to step in, and he described how his mother told him constantly, “you need to do spiritual work”, “you need to do inner work”.

He also said that during their time staying on campsites in France in 2022 he would eat one meal a day, and he added, “I’m so mad, so mad, that no-one did anything.”

Alex Batty told the BBC documentary that he was terrified his grandma would refuse to take him back, saying, “Because I'd gone with my mum and my grandad, I thought that my grandma wouldn't love me anymore,” and he added that he feared being homeless if his mother and grandfather were arrested.

He said, “I had this fear that if I did go back to England, she wouldn't take me back,” and he described how he believed that “I thought that I would get thrown on the streets and be homeless.”

BBC

The documentary also includes a campsite owner account that she called French social services about the family but was told they could not do anything because Mr Batty was foreign and they did not have his true identity.

Alex said he was “mad” that no-one did anything, and he told the programme that “You think that would make them want to come more.”

Programme-makers said Mr Batty’s mother was invited to respond to allegations but declined, while his grandfather was contacted but no response was received.

After being found in France near Toulouse in December 2023, Alex Batty was described by a spokesperson for regional authorities as having been found in Hautes-Garonne, and Greater Manchester Police said they had been contacted regarding “a possible sighting of Alex Batty in France, who disappeared in 2017.”

““a possible sighting of Alex Batty in France, who disappeared in 2017.””

El Litoral

The Toulouse public prosecutor’s office said the family confirmed the teenager’s identity and that he would return to England soon, and his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana told The Sun, “I am so happy. I have spoken with him and he is well,” adding, “He is currently with authorities in France.”

A Manchester Police spokesperson, Chris Sykes, said the family is “greatly relieved” by Batty’s location and set as “primary priority” the return of the minor to British soil, with “new checks” on his status once this transfer takes place.

The Independent reported that when Alex was 10, his grandmother Susan became his legal guardian, and it quoted Susan telling the BBC that Melanie “didn’t believe in school anymore, but I did,” explaining her motivation in applying to be Alex’s guardian.

In France, the Toulouse deputy prosecutor Antoine Leroy said that “Tomorrow or at the latest the day after tomorrow,” Alex would reunite with his grandmother in England, and the Actu.fr account said the only judicial investigation currently underway is taking place in Great Britain.