Alex Batty reveals he made up ‘four-day hike’ story to protect his mother

THE STANDARD

Alex Batty has revealed he decided to return to the UK for a better future, having realised his mother was “a great person but not a great mum”.

Interviewed for the first time, the 17-year-old said he realised he could no longer live with his “anti-government, anti-vax” mother after an argument.

In an interview with The Sun, the teenager, who is back in the UK after more than six years since he disappeared on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather, said he had become fed up of his nomadic lifestyle with “no friends and “no social life”.

                                                            I realised it wasn’t a great way to live for my future

                                                                                          ALEX BATTY

Alex did not return from a pre-arranged trip there when he was 11 and is said to have lived an “alternative” lifestyle abroad before deciding to return home.

He was picked up by chiropody student Fabien Accidini near the French city of Toulouse in the early hours of Wednesday last week after walking across the Pyrenees “for four days and four nights”.

Speaking about his mother, Melanie Batty, in an interview with the paper, he said: “She’s a great person and I love her but she’s just not a great mum.

“I had an argument with my mum and I just thought I’m gonna leave because I can’t live with her.”

The teenager – who is now under the legal guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana in Oldham, Greater Manchester – said his mother was “anti-government, anti-vax” whose catchphrase was “becoming a slave to the system”.

“I realised it wasn’t a great way to live for my future,” he continued.

“Moving around. No friends, no social life. Working, working, work and not studying. That’s the life I imagined I would be leading…