'My relationship with my mum is such a complicated thing. I'm annoyed at what she did' - man 'abducted' by mother at 11

"Alex Batty, 20, went missing from Oldham, Greater Manchester, in 2017 after his mother Melanie Batty, who was not his legal guardian, took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather David Batty. After six years of a lifestyle which was cut off from the outside world, often without basic amenities, Mr Batty chose to escape in 2023 and was found near the French city of Toulouse in December 2023 after walking across the Pyrenees."

"He said: "My relationship with my mum is such a complicated thing. I'm annoyed at what she did ... the experiences I missed out on, my lack of education. "But speaking to all these people about my mum opened up my eyes to why she did what she did. "This entire trip has reconnected me to my mum and grandad, and made me want to build that bridge again.""

"He told the programme during their time staying on campsites in France in 2022 he would eat one meal a day. He said: "My mum would tell me constantly, 'you need to do spiritual work', 'you need to do inner work', but when I was 15, I started really thinking for myself. "I'd try and find my own answers and when I did, if they differed in any way, it would start a row. It was constant battles, constant arguments, constant yelling.""

""So, she kicked me out of her campervan. "I was living in a tent for a few months whilst my mum had this really nice warm campervan next to me." One campsite owner told the programme she called French social services about the family, but was told they could not do anything because Mr Batty w"

Alex Batty went missing in 2017 from Oldham, Greater Manchester, after his mother Melanie Batty took him on a pre-arranged trip to Spain with his grandfather David Batty. After six years of isolation with limited basic amenities, he escaped in 2023 and was found near Toulouse in December 2023 after walking across the Pyrenees. During a documentary, he retraced his route across Spain and France and said he was annoyed that authorities did not do more to step in. He described a complicated relationship with his mother, missed education, and constant conflict tied to demands for “spiritual work.” He said he ate one meal a day while staying on campsites in France and was kicked out of a campervan, living in a tent for months.

Read at Irish Independent