Alex Batty says he educated himself by reading each Harry Potter book '20 times'

22 December 2023 , 22:49

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British teen Alex, who was found last week in France six years after his mother and grandfather took him on holiday

Missing Alex Batty says he read each Harry Potter book at least "20 times" during his time at a commune in France.

A criminal investigation was launched into the alleged abduction of British teen Alex, who was found last week in France six years after his mother and grandfather took him on holiday and never returned home, Greater Manchester police said Friday. The 17-year-old returned to Oldham, near Manchester, on Saturday and was reunited with his grandmother — the legal guardian who had made frantic and emotional appeals over the years for his return.

The teen never went to school while he was away and he spent his time with only one other child his age — a Spanish girl. He told the Sun told how JK Rowling’s novels were his salvation. He said he carried the books "everywhere."

Alex continued: "They’re amazing books. My main pastime was reading because most of the places we were we couldn’t get Wi-Fi. I tried to get as many as I could but it was bloody difficult."

He also said he tried to teach himself maths and computer science whenever he could. However, he spent most of his teenage years working "five hours a day, five days a week" in return for food and lodging.

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A delivery driver found Alex walking along a road in southern France in the middle of the night on December 13. The boy told police he had been living a nomadic lifestyle in Spain, Morocco and France with his mother and grandfather as part of a "spiritual community" and decided to leave when his mother talked about going to Finland.

Authorities in France said last week that they thought his mother, Melanie Batty, could be in Finland and that his grandfather, David Batty, appeared to have died, but neither of those details seemed clear after the teen gave his first interview.

Alex, Melanie and David Batty pictured (Manchester Evening News)

Alex told the Sun newspaper that he feared his mother and grandfather could be arrested on suspicion of child abduction, so he had lied about his escape. He had left the place they had been staying two days earlier — not four days as he initially reported — and provided other details he thought would throw investigators off their trail, he said.

The teen said the only qualifications he has are his SATs test results from primary school. Alex plans to gain as many qualifications as he can now he is back in the UK, so he can study computer science at university.

He had thought about leaving for at least two years and even discussed it with his mum and grandfather. He told the Sun: "Moving around. No friends, no social life. Working, working, work and not studying. That’s the life I imagined I would be leading if I were to stay with my mum. She was very anti-government, anti-vax." He said he left the farmhouse where they had been staying near Chalabre in the Aude region of southern France around midnight on December 11 after his mother was in bed.

Rachel Hagan