How Alex Batty’s mother ‘went from law student to ‘chaotic’ cult member who left her young son in Morocco to live in Bali with a new boyfriend and sent her mother a £500,000 ‘bill’ for ‘her use of’ Alex’

A recently emerged interview with the grandmother of a British boy who was missing for six years has revealed that his mother went from being a law student to a 'chaotic' cult member in just a few years.

Alex Batty, from Oldham, Lancashire, was just 11 when he failed to return from a holiday to Spain in 2017 with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, then 58.

His grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, said she believed her daughter and ex-husband David had taken him abroad to live an “alternative lifestyle.” Reports indicate that he lived in 'some kind of traveling commune'.

He was found on Wednesday by a French student after a four-day hike after fleeing the 'community' at the foot of the French Pyrenees in an attempt to reach his grandmother in England.

Alex, now 17, refuses to reveal where he has lived for the past six years, or where his mother, who he described as “a bit crazy”, is hiding.

In 2018, Susan revealed that Melanie was a rebellious teenager, who partied and drank hard, and that Susan and her husband, Dave, had difficulty getting along with her.

She went to college and got a law degree, but couldn't hold down a job. In 2006 she gave birth to Alex.

Susan said: 'I lived nearby and I saw Alex every day, I looked after him a lot and we were so close. I loaned Melanie a lot of money to take care of Alex, but she ruined everything.”

Susan and Dave had since separated and Dave was receiving therapy for health problems. Then he changed dramatically.

Susan, from Oldham, said: 'Dave went to therapy and then he started acting strangely. He became very spiritual. He no longer believed in working and as a result he fell behind on his mortgage and bills and the bailiff was called in.

'Melanie also became entangled in his new lifestyle and became involved in a cult. She started traveling abroad with Alex. Their lives were chaotic. Melanie did not believe in school or education. I was really worried about them.”

In 2014, Melanie took Alex, eight years old, to a commune in Morocco. Dave soon followed.

Susan said: “I was devastated. I was so close to Alex and I missed him terribly. Through Facebook I could see that the conditions there were terrible.

'Then Melanie went to live in Bali with a new boyfriend, leaving Alex behind. I panicked and paid for a flight home for him.'

Alex went to live with Susan. Melanie stayed in Bali and occasionally contacted Alex via Skype.

Susan said: 'I got Alex into a local school in Oldham and he was really settled and happy. He was so happy to have a house.”

Susan petitioned the court for custody of Alex, but Melanie refused to acknowledge the legal action.

Susan said: 'She returned home – and I paid for her flight. She refused to cooperate with the court, but she sent me an invoice for £500,000 for the use of her 'property' – Alex.

'I was shocked. It was so disturbing.”

Susan gained custody of Alex in 2016. Melanie refused to come to court for the verdict.

Susan said: 'I was happy Melanie saw Alex, I wanted them to be in touch. But her lifestyle was still chaotic.”

In October 2017, Melanie asked if she could take Alex on holiday to Marbella.

Susan said: 'I was very torn. I was worried she would take him. But Alex really wanted to go on holiday with his mother. I didn't want to let him down.

'I had to cancel a holiday earlier this year because I had been in hospital, so it seemed very cruel to deny him the opportunity.

'Dave said he'd come too. I trusted him. I never thought he would lie to me or jeopardize Alex's safety.

'During the holiday Alex called me and said he was at the beach. But in the background I heard his mother shouting: Turn off the phone. No more contact.'

'My heart dropped. I was panicking.'

Melanie then sent a video message saying that Alex would not return because she wanted him to follow her lifestyle.

Susan said: “I was heartbroken. I blamed myself for trusting them with him.

“On the video, Alex said it was a million times better to be with his mom and grandpa. It hurt me a little, but I knew he was just a kid and enjoying the freedom.”

He contacted her for the first time in six years through an emotional Facebook message he sent from the phone of a French student who found him in Toulouse.

In a stroke of luck, Fabien Accidini, a chiropractic student from Toulouse, was driving along a road delivering medicine in the mountainous region of the Aude when he spotted Alex walking in the pouring rain around 2am on Wednesday.

A freezing and exhausted Alex, carrying a skateboard, gratefully accepted Fabien's offer of a lift and eventually told him about his extraordinary attempt to leave the south of France and return to his family in England.

“Hi grandma, I'm Alex, I'm in France, Toulouse, I really hope you receive this message,” 17-year-old Alex Batty told his legal guardian in the desperate text message, with the heartbreaking sign “I love you , I want to come home'.

Susan told The Times: 'I spoke to him this afternoon and it's definitely him. I spoke to a boy when he was with us and now I speak to a man. I hope he comes back next week. I wish we didn't have the weekend ahead of us. It's quite unbelievable when you don't know if someone is dead or alive.'