Boy, 11, who vanished for six years in different country explains what the worst part of it was

Alex Batty has revealed that it was his mother's 'alternate' views which made his six years living with her the most difficult.

In October 2017, Alex made headlines when it was reported that his mother, who was not his legal guardian, and grandfather had allegedly kidnapped him while on holiday in Marbella, Spain.

11-years-old at the time, Alex became the centre of a missing person's case after his grandmother reported his failure to return home to the police. The Oldham lad would remain missing for a total of six years, until he was picked up by a delivery driver while walking towards the city of Toulouse.

Three years on from his return to the UK, Alex's story is back in the news again after he featured in BBC documentary Kidnapped by My Mum, which sees him retrace his steps across France and Spain.

Alex was taken to live a nomadic lifestyle with his mother and grandfather after going on holiday with them (Facebook)

The programme touched on his mum Melanie's reasons for taking Alex out of the UK, her sovereign citizen beliefs and Alex's fear that his grandmother, Susan Caruana, would reject him if he ever tried to get back in touch.

Despite the tough conditions and loneliness which Alex faced during the six years he participated in his mother's 'off the grid' lifestyle, he does not harbour any animosity towards Melanie, even recently reaching out to her.

However, the same cannot be said of his feelings towards her views, with the 20-year-old telling The Telegraph of his frustration with her constant attempts to influence his way of thinking.

"She wouldn’t talk about anything else but her beliefs," he said, recalling that mealtimes would usually conclude with Melanie putting on conspiracy theory YouTube videos, which Alex 'absolutely hated'.

As he got older, Alex began to challenge his mother more on her beliefs, which led to Melanie kicking him out of the caravan they lived in.

Recalling a blowout after he refused to watch conspiracy theory documentaries, Alex said: "She exploded and told me she didn’t want me in the caravan, which was heated and cosy. I ended up sleeping in a tent."

Now 20, Alex resides with his grandma in Oldham (BBC/Proper Content/Duncan Stingemore)

The incident occurred during the winter months, which meant that Alex was forced to deal with cold and wet conditions.

Acknowledging that being made to sleep in a tent was 'cruel' of his mother, Alex does not believe he was abused during the years he lived in France and Spain.

"There was nothing malicious about what she did; she thought she was protecting me," he added.

"I’m not sure if it was coercive control, because that implies a harmful motivation."

Melanie and her father, David Batty, were never charged in relation to Alex's disappearance, with police closing the investigation in January 2025 due to a lack of support from the family and 'no realistic chance of prosecution'.