A British man who vanished for six years abroad as a child has revealed he never viewed his alleged abduction as a 'kidnapping' because he was taken by his mother. Alex Batty went missing aged 11 in 2017 after his mother Melanie Batty, who was not his legal guardian, took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather. The family then went off-grid leading a nomadic lifestyle in southern France until 2023, when Mr Batty made the decision to walk out after leaving a note for them.
He was found walking in darkness carrying his skateboard by French delivery driver Fabien Accidini near Toulouse then reunited with his grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana days later, back at his former home in Oldham, Greater Manchester. Mr Batty, now aged 20, has spoken about his disappearance in the new documentary series 'Kidnapped By My Mum' which starts on BBC Three next Wednesday at 9pm.
He says in a new trailer: 'What they used to say is it's classified as kidnapping, but it isn't kidnapping because she's my mum. For me it's not a story, for me it's my life.' After Mr Batty went missing, an international missing persons investigation was launched but years passed without a trace – until he turned up on the side of the road in the French Pyrenees and told a passing driver that he had been kidnapped.
He is now telling the full story about his abduction and life on the run, retracing the route of his disappearance across Spain and France for the first time. Mr Batty also speaks about how he was hidden and the belief system that kept him away from police, building a picture of how a child could disappear in plain sight. He eventually slipped away from his mother in the dark, walking for hours along unlit mountain roads before flagging down a stranger which finally ended his ordeal.
Officers in the UK interviewed Mr Batty when he returned from France and a criminal investigation was subsequently launched by Greater Manchester Police. But it was discontinued in January 2025 after the force decided there was no realistic chance of criminal prosecution because Mr Batty and his family would not support this. Detectives reflect in the programme on the failed attempts to locate him and his grandmother recounts years of not knowing whether he was still alive.
Since returning to the UK, Mr Batty has reintegrated with his wider family and gave his first TV interview to ITV's Good Morning Britain with Ms Caruana in January 2024. He said he did not want his mother or grandfather to get into trouble, adding: 'That's why I didn't come home sooner. All I worried about was them getting locked up.'
'We stayed in a lot of caravans and we stayed in a lot of houses, always up mountains, hours away from any kind of village or anything like that. One day I just thought: "OK. I can't take this any more". I knew that everything was already kind of in place for them to leave where we were. So, if I were to have left, they would be gone by the time the police arrived.'
He described his mother as 'detached' adding: 'She's a very anti-government person and very spiritual and that's the reason she wanted to take me out.' Mr Batty, who has not attended any school since age 11, said he left a note behind to his mother and grandfather, saying he loved them and he knew what they did was out of love for him, but it was not best for his future.
He added: 'Of course, I don't want her to go to prison. I don't think I'll see them again.' Mr Batty's mother's current whereabouts are unknown but French authorities previously said she may have travelled to Finland to see the Northern Lights.
After celebrating his first Christmas back in England in December 2023 aged 17, Mr Batty said he received cans of Irn-Bru and tickets to watch Manchester United among his presents as he spent Christmas Day with his grandmother. Mr Batty told The Sun at the time: 'When I was away, we never really celebrated Christmas because we were always on the move. It's so nice to go to bed at night and wake up in the same place in the morning. I am loving the cold weather and the rain as well.'
Mr Batty said some of his Christmas presents reminded him of his life before he went missing. He said: 'I loved Irn-Bru when I was little and used to get some from the corner shop whenever I could. The same for Worcester sauce flavoured crisps. So my gran surprised me by tracking down a massive pack of cans and a couple of family sized bags of crisps. I could have just tucked into them for Christmas dinner.'
'Kidnapped By My Mum' begins on BBC Three next Wednesday, May 13 at 9pm.
