'I need a future': why missing British boy fled across Pyrenees

A British teenager allegedly kidnapped by his mother six years ago fled across the Pyrenees after she announced plans to take him to Finland, French police have said.

- Josh Halliday

Alex Batty, 17, told a passing driver “I need a future” after he was found in a remote corner of south-west France in the early hours of Wednesday, carrying only a skateboard and €100 (£85) in cash.

French police revealed yesterday that the teenager, who vanished while on holiday in Spain with his mother, Melanie, and grandfather David, in 2017, had survived on “whatever he found in the fields” as he made a getaway across the mountain range.

Antoine Leroy, assistant public prosecutor in Toulouse, said Alex had for six years been living a “nomadic lifestyle” with his mother and grandfather who were “obsessed about energy and solar panels”. His grandfather is believed to have died about six months ago.

The teenager told police he had been living in “spiritual communities” in Spain, Morocco and France after he was taken from his grandmother, his legal guardian, in October 2017. Leroy said Alex realised “this has to stop” when his mother announced plans to take him to Finland – but said it was not clear whether the youngster had told her of his intention to leave. “He had €100 on him and was trying to get to Toulouse without meeting many people. That’s why he was travelling at night and sleeping during the day.”