Alex Batty’s mum & granddad who ‘kidnapped’ teen for six years and kept him ‘prisoner’ in cult WON’T face charges
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THE mum and grandad of British teen Alex Batty, who abducted him in 2017, will not face criminal proceedings over his disappearance. Alex fled a commune in France in December 2023, leaving his mum and their "off-the-grid life" to return to the UK after six years.
![[Photo of Alex Batty with his mother and grandfather.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2017-found-france-authorities-say-866304298.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
British detectives said they "explored all possible lines of enquiry" before deciding there are "insufficient grounds" to try for a prosecution. The decision applies to both Alex's mum Melanie and grandad David, who kidnapped him during a trip to Spain at the age of 11.
![[British teen Alex Batty, pictured after his return to the UK]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/newspress-collage-qlgdy0lt9-1707698277706.jpg?w=620)
Cops said today that it was "the outcome Alex and his family wished for" after the case was "properly and thoroughly investigated.". Melanie and David took young Alex to Morocco, Spain and then southwest France where he lived for several years after he vanished on their holiday in 2017.
![[Alex said said he disagreed with his mum’s decision to drag him around Europe]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Susan-Caruana-watermark-1.jpg?strip=all&w=855)
He told French cops that he escaped in the middle of the night on foot before a delivery driver spotted him walking alone and gave him a lift to Toulouse. After he returned to his grandmother Susan in Manchester, police confirmed they had launched a criminal probe into his abduction.
![[.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/LWD_Batty_011JPG-JS867647140.jpg?strip=all&w=670)
Detective Superintendent Matt Walker - leading the probe - said today: "Alex and his safety has been at the forefront of our minds and actions since he was found in Toulouse, France in 2023. "In our commitment to protecting children, we felt it was important that the circumstances of Alex’s disappearance be properly and thoroughly investigated.
![[Alex was abducted by his mother in 2017]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/alex-batty-reunited-gran-susan-867695257.jpg?strip=all&w=528)
