Alex Batty plans to get ‘hammered with friends’ for first birthday since UK return
Alex Batty has said he plans to get ‘absolutely hammered’ with the friends he didn’t see for six years when he turns 18 in February.
The teenager, who lived a clandestine life with his mum and grandad after he didn’t return from a holiday to Spain in 2017, gave his first live TV interview to Good Morning Britain this morning.
He spoke about his belief that he will never see the two relatives again, and how he tried to put the authorities off the scent to protect them.
Christmas was ‘not celebrated much’ due to lack of money over the past six years, Alex said, but he emphasised it was ‘not a big deal’ since many people are in similar situations.
Last week, he had his first ‘proper Christmas dinner’ since being reunited with his gran Susan Cuarana, with the family tucking into lamb.
Alex told presenter Richard Madeley his birthday is coming up on February 13, and when asked about his plans, he replied: ‘[Getting] absolutely hammered with my friends.’
He was reported missing after failing to return from a holiday in Marbella with his mother Melanie, then 37, and grandfather David, who was then 58, in September 2017.
Alex said he was ‘actually quite happy’ for the first few years away, as he had been unable to see his mum when he lived in England due to domestic difficulties.
After several years on the run, though, he decided he needed to make a big choice for his future.
He had mostly been doing cash-in-hand construction work, he said, including renovation, decoration and demolition – but over his time away, he had discovered that his real passion was in IT.
Last month, he made the ‘very, very quick’ decision to escape, although his plans had been forming for a while.
Alex had even talked to his mum and grandad about the possibility of leaving, with his parent telling him it was an ‘absolute no-go’.
He described taking an overly circuitous route to his destination in France following the escape, so he could tell the authorities he had been walking for several days and give them a false impression of where he had set off.
Asked if he thought he would ever see his mum or grandad again, he said he probably would not, but added: ‘I don’t mind.’
However, he explained that he does not them to go to prison, and revealed he spent his entire time away worried that they could be caught at any moment.
Susan, who appeared on the programme beside Alex, said she could forgive her daughter for taking him away, adding that she also did not want Melanie to go to prison.
At the end of last year, Melanie broke her cover to email a friend and say: ‘I’ve got to keep running.’
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