The criminal investigation into the disappearance of teenager Alex Batty, who was missing abroad for six years after going to Spain with his mother and grandfather, has been discontinued.
The investigation ended on the basis he and his family would not support a prosecution, Greater Manchester Police said.
Alex Batty, 18, went missing seven years ago after travelling to Spain with his mother and grandfather.
He spent six years living a nomadic life with them in France, before deciding as a teenager to leave and return to the UK.
He left his mother and grandfather behind and returned to normal life in Oldham in December 2023, with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who was his legal guardian at the time of his disappearance in 2017.
After reporting to authorities and being reunited with Ms Caruana, Alex how after first being taken to live his new life with his mother he was excited to be back with her – but after a few years he realised it was ‘not the best for me’.
‘In the past six years I’ve met one maybe two people my own age who I’ve made friends with,’ Alex said.
He described nomadic life as ‘boring, to say the least’ and ‘very isolated from my own peers’.
The teenager first discussed returning to the UK with his mother at the age of 16, but said it was a split-second decision to leave when he escaped early last month, leaving a note to his mother on a table.
‘It was a normal day. To be honest I didn’t think I was going to [leave], it was a very very quick decision for it to be that day.
‘I made food for everyone, played it chill of course and then around 10.30pm I wrote the note and by 12pm I was gone.’
After finding out Alex had fled, his mother reportedly made a late-night dash from her remote hideaway in France and is said to have travelled to Spain.
The then-17-year-old made his escape at midnight on December 11 when his mother Melanie was asleep in bed.
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
