A criminal investigation has been launched into the alleged child abduction of British teenager Alex Batty.
The probe has been launched by Greater Manchester Police, who have interviewed the 17-year-old after he arrived back in the UK last week.
Alex was found in France six years after he never returned from a holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather.
He was picked up by chiropody student Fabien Accidini near the French city of Toulouse in the early hours of Wednesday last week after walking across the Pyrenees.
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”.
“I realised it wasn’t a great way to live for my future,” he told The Sun in his first interview since returning to England.
He said he decided to return to the UK for a better future after realising his mother was “a great person but not a great mum”.
Alex said he had become fed up of his nomadic lifestyle with “no friends and “no social life”.
Speaking about his mother, Melanie Batty, in an interview with the paper, he said: “I had an argument with my mum and I just thought I’m gonna leave because I can’t live with her.”
After being looked after by the French authorities, Alex met his step-grandfather at Toulouse airport on Saturday before boarding a flight back to the UK, Greater Manchester Police said.
He can now look forward to spending time with family members, friends and others he grew up with in Greater Manchester, where he was living as a young boy before he disappeared and police say is “where he wants to be”.
It is thought Alex had been living with his mother and grandfather, who had taken him on the trip to Spain in September 2017 – across Spain, Morocco and France while he was missing.
Last week, French prosecutors said the teenager’s mother, who does not have legal parental guardianship, may be in Finland.
Ms Batty spent the summer living under a fake identity in a caravan in rural France, according to reports.
French locals told Sky News that the 43-year-old moved to a campsite near the southern town of Chalabre in spring 2023 where she introduced herself as Rose.
She reportedly spent the summer there in a caravan before leaving in September.
She was described by the source as pleasant, cheerful and polite to campsite staff and other holidaymakers, though she could not speak French.
She reportedly did not drive, but rode a bicycle and frequently had a cat with her.
She is said to have last contacted the campsite around three weeks ago to say a friend of hers would be visiting to collect her caravan. The friend did not arrive, and the caravan remains there.
French police are said to have questioned staff at the campsite.
