ALEX Batty was just 14 when he realized he didn’t want to live the hippy lifestyle his mum had chosen for him before embarking on a midnight getaway years later.
Now 17, Alex said his mum didn’t want him to be a “slave to the system”, instead moving him between homes across Europe for six years.
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Alex Batty, now 17, pictured six years after disappearance Credit: Louis Wood – The Sun
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Alex’s mum Melanie (pictured in her 30s) didn’t want Alex to live a normal life
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Alex reunited with his grandmother Susan in the UK (pictured) Credit: Louis Wood
But the Manchester United fan dreamed of working with computers and wanted to get a formal education.
He has been out of school for six years and even tried desperately to get into one in France this year.
Melanie’s mum, who was “anti-government” and “anti-vax”, wanted him to live a nomadic life with her.
Alex told The Sun: “She’s a great person and I love her, but she’s just not a great mum.”
Eventually the couple fell out and Alex decided to run away, returning home to England to be reunited with his grandmother Susan.
He said: “I had an argument with my mum and I just thought I’d leave because I can’t live with her.”
He confided in his grandfather at the age of 16 about his hopes of returning to England.
“My mom was against the idea. She was very against the government, against the vax,” the young man said.
“She was worried that I would be taken into custody if I returned to a country and got an identity card.
“Her watchword was becoming a ‘slave of the system’.”
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Alex stayed in France and managed to convince mum Melanie to rent a country house closer to civilization, instead of living in the mountains.
But he said he got tired of constantly moving and working with Grandpa David in exchange for food and rent.
He made only one friend his own age, and his education came from trying to study math, languages, and computing when he could get hold of textbooks.
Eventually, his desire to live a normal life led him to write a note to his mom and leave in the middle of the night on December 11 while she was sleeping.
Alex walked 22 miles over two days before a student delivery driver spotted him carrying a skateboard on the side of the road at 3am and stopped.
He later told the truck driver who picked him up, “My mother kidnapped me when I was 12 years old.”
Alex told The Sun: “I first started thinking about leaving when I was 14 or 15.
“I realized that this is not a good way to live for my future. The cloud lifted as I began to weigh everything again – the pros and cons of England.
“I wouldn’t know what would have happened in my future if I had stayed with my mom, but from the past few years I could get an idea of what life would be like.
“Moving around. No friends, no social life. Work, work, work and not study. That’s the life I imagined I’d lead if I stayed with my mom.
“It would always be the same whether it was France or Spain.
“In the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. There are no people my age.
“She wasn’t very open to other opinions, while Grandpa is more of a listener.”
Alex finally returned home to Oldham, Greater Manchester last weekend and was reunited with his delighted grandmother Susan Caruana.
She was distraught when he disappeared on holiday with Melanie in David, Spain, aged 11, never to be seen again.
Yesterday, a judge ruled that Alex will remain under special legal protection as a ward of the court with Susan as his guardian.
The teenager, who will turn 18 in just two months, plans to continue studying French and computer science while pursuing his dreams of software engineering.
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Alex in the picture with his grandfather
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Alex (left) in one of their hippy communities with Melanie and David Credit: The Sun
How the hall turned into an escape
ALEX Batty left England for a week’s holiday with his mum and grandad – and returned 2,269 days later.
Here’s how it happened:
SEPTEMBER 30, 2017: Flew to Malaga and stayed in a luxury villa in Marbella owned by Melania’s friend.
OCTOBER 7: The trio hitchhiked 400 miles north to Benifairo de la Valldign, near Valencia. They live near Gandija.
AUTUMN 2021: they drive a camper to France without an ID card.
Alex and David are staying at Gite de La Bastide, 25 miles east of Quillan. Melanie lives in Camon, about an hour’s drive away.
DECEMBER: Alex and David join Melanie.
JANUARY 2022: they move to a camp in Balesta.
MAY-SEPTEMBER 2023: in Montbel, but Melanie also travels around France, leaving Alex with his grandfather.
October: Move to the Garden of Eden location near Villefort.
DECEMBER 11: Alex leaves the rented house they were staying in near Chalabre, leaving a farewell note.
DECEMBER 13: He was picked up at 3 a.m. while walking on the road near the Ariege La Pibola camp.
DECEMBER 16: Alex returns to his grandmother’s home in Oldham.
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education