Alex Batty, the British boy who went missing six years ago, fled his mother because she wanted to take him to Finland, authorities have said.
Antoine Leroy, the Toulouse assistant public prosecutor, described Alex’s mother as “rather unstable”, according to the boy.
Alex told police he decided his nomadic lifestyle with his mother “had to stop” when she proposed taking him to Finland.
He walked for four nights in the French Pyrenees mountains – sleeping during the day – to get away from her, Mr Leroy added.
The boy had 100 euros but no phone – and took food from fields and gardens on the way.
Alex, now about 17 and a half, should be able to return to the UK tomorrow, but his grandmother was described as “too frail” to go to France to meet him.
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Alex told police the family had been living in “spiritual communities” with his mother, grandfather and around 10 others.
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He spent the first two to three years moving around Morocco, said Mr Leroy, before they moved to southern France when he was about 15.
Alex first went missing after going on holiday with his mother and grandfather in 2017, but was found this week by a pharmacy delivery driver on a remote road.
He told him he needed protection, said the prosecutor, and revealed his remarkable story.
Alex helped the man finish his overnight deliveries before they went to the police station.
The teenager is originally from Oldham and his grandmother – his legal guardian – had made multiple appeals to find him.
Greater Manchester Police said she was “content” the teenager who turned up in France is her grandson.
Alex’s lifestyle over the last six years involved moving from place to place alongside families from different countries, said Mr Leroy
The communities he lived in grew their own food, lived off solar power, did meditation and believed in reincarnation.
Although he told police he was never held against his will.
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