I don't want to see my mother locked up, says 'abducted' teen who fled for Britain

ALEX BATTY today said he did not want to see his mother or grandfather "locked up" as the teenager who went missing for six years gave his first TV interview.

- Josh Salisbury

Alex, 17, returned to Britain last month after spending the past six years living in a nomadic "spiritual community" with his mother, who is not his official guardian, in mainland Europe.

A criminal investigation was launched into his alleged abduction after he was found in France last month. He disappeared in 2017 while on holiday in Spain with his mother Melanie Batty and grandfather David.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, Alex pleaded with the authorities not to send them to prison over the alleged abduction, saying: "That's why I didn't come home sooner. All I worried about was them getting locked up."

Appearing alongside his grandmother, Susan Caruana, he told of the boredom of the nomadic lifestyle he lived, saying he seldom met people his own age. He said he first made a decision to leave when he was 16, after doing odd jobs to support the family's lifestyle.