January 8th 2024.
Alex Batty is a 17-year-old from Oldham who has just returned to education for the first time since his childhood. At 11 years old, he was forced into a nomadic lifestyle by his mother and granddad, travelling around France and Spain and living among various "spiritual communities". Instead of being able to go to school, Alex was made to work odd jobs at the age of 14, and used the time to learn what he could from a few language, maths and computing books he managed to find.
On Monday, he arrived at Oldham College to pursue several different courses. Before starting his journey, he told The Sun that going back to college and getting a proper education was his "biggest dream". He expressed his excitement at being able to spend time with his peers again after years of having a "non-existent social life". The only friend he made during his six-year absence was a brief encounter with someone he met in France at the same time as when he "started thinking about going back to England".
Alex's mother, described as "anti-government, anti-vax", opposed his wishes to return to the UK as she was "worried" he would become a "slave to the system". On December 11, Alex packed only a few essentials and ran away, taking a few diversions to throw her off. He ended up sleeping on the "freezing" ground before he was eventually picked up by a French medical student and taken to the authorities.
Alex believes he will be able to celebrate his 18th birthday in February as it should be, with his old friends from before he left the UK. He also got to experience his first "proper Christmas dinner" since being reunited with his grandmother Susan Caruana, who was his legal guardian when he was taken to Spain and will remain so until his 18th birthday.
Greater Manchester Police are investigating an allegation of child abduction in connection with Alex's ordeal. Alex is determined to get a proper education and start the "rest of his life" with a clean slate.
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