Missing Alex has had no formal schooling in six years, says judge

A FAMILY court judge has taken the unusual step of lifting restrictions to allow the press to report Alex Batty – who was missing for six years – is a ‘ward of court’ until he turns 18.

- JOHN SCHEERHOUT

It means the teen’s effective guardian will continue to be his grandmother until his birthday.

The county court heard that he has received no formal schooling since he went missing and that he is being urged to resume his education.

A local authority becomes the legal guardian of a young person who is made a ‘ward of court’. It can then appoint a ‘special guardian’ to deal with day-to-day care.

Alex arrived back in Oldham last Saturday evening after being picked up by a French delivery driver on a rural road in southern France.

He will spend Christmas with his, grandmother Susan Caruana.

Alex was reported missing in 2017 aged 11 when he went on holiday to Marbella, Spain, with mum Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.

French prosecutors said in a news conference last week that he was then taken to live in a ‘spiritual community’, living in Morocco for two years and later the Pyrenees.