British teenager Alex Batty says the parent who made him leave the UK is “a great person… but not a great mother,” as he said in his first interview since escaping the French Pyrenees.
The 17-year-old escaped in the middle of the night because he wanted to live a normal life after wandering around Europe for six years and was fed up with the hippie pain of the a** lifestyle he lived with his mother. .
He added that his mother often left him for long periods of time – up to seven months – and held “anti-government” beliefs, including that many people are “slaves.”
He walked more than 22 miles in two days before a delivery man spotted him with a skateboard at 3 a.m. and stopped in front of him, concerned.
The teenager used the driver's phone to contact his legal guardian – his grandmother Susan Caruana, 68 – and said in a text message, “pick up,” The sun reported.
Alex, who returned to Britain on Saturday, was 11 when he went missing Spain in 2017 and had reportedly led an itinerant lifestyle until he approached the driver while walking south France and he went to the local authorities.
Alex Batty told how he escaped in the dead of night and walked for miles
Alex, from Oldham, was 11 when he failed to return from a holiday to Spain
His mother and alleged kidnapper, 48-year-old Melanie Batty, is still on the run.
Alex, who never went to school while living with his mother, dreamed of becoming a software engineer.
He walked away from his mother and his grandfather, David, after an argument.
Alex told me The sun: 'I had an argument with my mother and thought I would leave because I can't live with her.'
He added: “She is a good person. But she's just not a great mother. She just doesn't do motherly things that you should do. She's not very warm and open.'
The teenager had convinced his mother to move to a rented farm instead of living in the mountains.
Tired of constantly moving and working in exchange for food and lodging, he said he only made one friend his own age during the six years he was away: a Spanish girl he met in a café .
He said he learned languages himself and studied mathematics and computer science from textbooks, but did not go to school.
Alex said he first questioned their alternative lifestyle when he was 14 and started thinking about his goals for the future.
He told The Sun: 'I realized this wasn't a great way to live for my future. The cloud had lifted because I started to reconsider everything – the pros and cons of England.
A tent in the woods in the 'Garden of Eden' 'spiritual community' near Chalabre
Alex flew to Malaga in September 2017 before being taken to a 'spiritual community' in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Investigators believe Alex escaped from the rural community in southern France and hiked through the French Pyrenees for days before being picked up by a truck driver who took him to a police station in Revel, near Toulouse.
Alex Batty (pictured left) with his mother Melanie and grandfather David six years ago
'I wouldn't know what would happen in my future if I stayed with my mother, but over the years I could imagine what life would have been like.
'Move around. No friends, no social life. Work, work, work and don't study. That's the life I thought I would live if I stayed with my mother.
'In the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. Not people my age. So when I was about 16, I talked to Grandpa about going back to England.
'My mother was against the idea. She was very anti-government, anti-vax. She was afraid that if I went back to a country and got my ID, I would be placed in care. Her slogan was to become 'a slave to the system'.
The 17-year-old escaped around midnight on Monday, December 11, while his mother was sleeping in bed.
Carrying only a skateboard and a backpack full of clothes and supplies, he headed to the nearest city: Toulouse, 70 miles away.
He took four T-shirts, three pairs of pants, socks, trousers, a flashlight, 100 euros and a Swiss army knife.
He left a note for his mother that said, “Hey Mom, I want you to know that I love you very much. I am very grateful for the life you have given me over the years.
The spiritual community of Garden of Eden, where Melanie Batty lived
Gite de la Bastide in the part of the Pyrenees where teenager Alex lived
“Don't worry about yourself, I'm sure you won't be found.” Don't worry about me either. You know I can take care of myself.
'I love you very much. Don't be so angry with me. I love Alex.'
The teenager was worried that his mother and grandfather would be arrested on suspicion of his kidnapping, so he lied to those he met along the way.
Alex – who used the alias Zack Edwards in France – made up a story about four days of hiking through the mountains.
The 17-year-old spent his first night sleeping outside in the cold in a forest, drinking from mountain springs.
When he arrived in the town of Quillan, he bought a tuna baguette to eat. But he waited until 6pm before leaving because he was afraid his mother would pass in her car.
He said he was trying to be “smart” and walked from Quillan back to Chalabre, asking for directions and telling those he met that he was lost.
But he said, “I knew exactly where I was going.”
Speaking about the moment he was picked up by the driver, he told The Sun: 'I was sleeping on the ground outside. It was freezing. When I had to go to the toilet, I used leaves and grass.
The now 17-year-old has been 'afraid of the glare of publicity' since returning to Britain
'My plan was to go to Toulouse and get as far away as possible. But I was so devastated when the delivery person picked me up that I just blurted out a story.
“I wasn't even hitchhiking when he picked me up. I walked over a small bridge. He said he stopped because he saw I had a skateboard. It was raining and it was pitch black, it was three o'clock in the morning.'
The distraught teenager said he was 'in pieces on the ground' when he was taken to the police station because he feared he had said too much.
He said police took his fingerprints “about five different times” and sent photos of him to his grandmother.
From Wednesday to Friday he spent the night in a foster home, after which he was told he could fly home.
When he arrived at Toulouse airport, his other grandfather was waiting with two police officers and a social worker.
Alex said: 'I was so happy to see him, I gave him a big hug'.
At 5pm he boarded a flight to Amsterdam and a connecting flight to Manchester landed at 8.13pm.
Describing the moment he was reunited with his grandmother, he said he was “shaking” and gave her a “huge hug.”
He added: 'The house is different now but still feels the same. The biggest difference is that when I left I was a boy, but now I'm 6 feet tall so I'm too big for the bed. It feels great to be back. I have received a lot of help from social services and the police and I want to study.
'I understand a lot of French, so I won't let that go. I will continue my studies. I want to do computer science or cybersecurity or blockchain development, so I'm going to study hard and catch up.'
Alex believes that his mother, who uses the assumed name Rose, plans to travel to Finland to see the Northern Lights.
He said she often abandoned him to go with her friends, leaving him with his grandfather – once for a whole period of seven months.
The teen said she had strong anti-government and “anti-vax” views and believed many people were “slaves.”
His grandfather David, on the other hand, always listened to his concerns about their lives.
Lovingly referring to him as “Grandpa Batty,” he said that David “raised” him with his stepfather and that he saw them as father figures.
It was previously reported that Alex will remain under special legal protection as he builds his new life in Britain.
Represented by lawyers at a hearing at a Family Court hearing at Manchester Civil Courts, he was heard to be 'afraid of the glare of publicity'.