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17th December 2023
12:34pm GMT
Alex Batty has spent his first night in the UK since disappearing while on holiday in Spain aged 11.
On Thursday, French authorities said that a teenager answering to the name of Alex Batty, from Oldham, had handed himself at a police station near Toulouse.
The boy had gone missing in Spain back in 2017 after going there on holiday with his mum and grandfather, neither of whom were his legal guardian.
When none of the family returned home from the holiday in Marbella, police opened an investigation.
According to reports, Alex handed himself into police in Revel, near Toulouse, after ‘escaping a spiritual rural community’ in the Pyrenees. He had been walking for four days before he was picked up by a concerned lorry driver.
Following his disappearance in 2017, Caruana said Alex’s mum and grandad had taken Alex to live an “alternative lifestyle” with him in a spiritual community in Morocco.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed that after being looked after by the French authorities, he met his step-grandfather at Toulouse airport on Saturday before boarding a flight back to the UK.
Asked if a criminal investigation would be opened, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle said: "Speaking with him [Alex] at a pace that feels comfortable to him will ultimately determine how this case is progressed, and whether there is a criminal investigation to ensue.
“Our continued focus is supporting Alex and his family, in partnership with other local agencies – to ensure that they are safe, their wellbeing is looked after, and his re-integration with society is as easy as possible.
“We are yet to fully establish the circumstances surrounding his disappearance, but no matter what, we understand that this may be an overwhelming process.
“He may now be six years older than when he went missing, but he is still a young person.”
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