ALEX Batty has an emotional message to his mum and grandad after he fled a hippy life for normality back home in the UK.
The now-17-year-old escaped France last week, six years after he was allegedly kidnapped by his mother Melanie Batty.
Louis Wood – The SunAlex Batty has an emotional message to his mum and grandad[/caption]
FACEBOOK/UNPIXSThe now 17-year-old has a message for mum Melanie and grandad David, who he left behind[/caption]
PAAlex was allegedly kidnapped by the pair 2017[/caption]
Alex finally this week returned home to Oldham, Greater Manchester for the first time since his alleged abduction in 2017.
In a world exclusive, The Sun spoke with the teen and his grandmother Susan for his homecoming.
The 17-year-old today opened up about how he was forced to work from the age of 14 while he was living in a “spiritual” commune.
He said he was staying there with his mum, 48, and grandad David – who took him out of the UK as an 11-year-old.
Alex said he fled from them last week without saying goodbye – and had an emotional message for the pair.
The teen said he wanted to apologise to them for leaving in the middle of the night – but that he had to put himself first.
He said he always wanted them to know he was “happy – very happy actually”.
The 17-year-old told The Sun: “If they were watching this, which they probably were if grandad can figure out how to turn on an electronic device, I’d tell ’em I love ’em, tell them I’m sorry for leaving – but it was necessary for my future.
“All is good, I’m happy, very happy actually, healthy, you know I love the cold so I’ve got that again.
“You know I can take care of myself so you don’t have to worry about any of that. Hope you guys stay safe.”
Alex also opened up about the night he decided to flee.
He said it was a “normal day” when he thought: “OK, time to leave.”
The 17-year-old picked up a pen and started writing a message to his mum and grandad.
Alex recalled: “I wrote a note to my mum. I told her how much I loved her, how much I appreciated what she had done for me.
“I didn’t want her to worry about me, I didn’t want her to worry about herself, and saying goodbye really.
“I wrote that note 20 minutes before I left – I left around midnight.”
Alex told of how he moved in the darkness of the night, sleeping when he could, until a man picked him up in the days that followed.
I’d tell ’em I love ’em, tell them I’m sorry for leaving – but it was necessary for my future.
Alex Batty
It was French student Fabien Accidini who found the teen wandering the roads in heavy rain after he trekked through the Pyrenees mountains.
The pair then drove together in the middle of the night, Alex helping Fabien to deliver the medicines he was taking to pharmacies in the area.
As they talked, Alex confided in Fabien about what happened to him over the past six years and his hopes for what could follow the ordeal.
Fabien, 26, told Sky News: “He just wanted to live a normal life, to see his grandmother again.
“And to have a normal future, that’s the word he used.”
Alex’s mum is currently on the run following her son’s escape.
She is said to have forced him to live in a “spiritual” commune after he did not return home to the UK following a holiday to Spain with his mum and grandad David.
His grandmother and legal guardian Susan Caruana, 68, was distraught when Melanie told her 11-year-old Alex would be living with them abroad.
When he finally returned to the UK last weekend, he told reporters: “I’m just happy to be home for Christmas“.
Days ago it emerged that the British teen should have been found five months ago alongside his mother – but French police were on strike and apparently failed to act.
Louis Wood – The SunAlex hugs gran Susan who was yesterday awarded care of him until he turns 18[/caption]
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