Manchester boy, Alex Batty, who went missing six years ago is believed to have been found in France according to local authorities.
For those who don’t remember the story, Alex Batty went missing when he was just 11 years old whilst on holiday with grandparents in Spain on 30 September 2017 and, as per various reports, may now have been identified in France.
Having been escorted to a police station by a concerned motorist in the town of Revel, near Toulouse, the teenager originally from Oldham was flagged as a possible sighting and is said to be answering to the name Alex Batty.
The young boy told French police he had been in France for two years, with local authorities having noted that he bore a resemblance to the last known picture of Alex. He was also reported to be in good health and had ‘not been mistreated in any way’.
French police have claimed that missing Mancunian teen Alex Batty has been now been found. (Credit: Greater Manchester Police)
While full confirmation is still yet to be officially announced, the prosecutor’s office in Toulouse is currently verifying the identity to the BBC, stating: “It is the missing child. The family have confirmed it.”
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His grandmother and legal guardian, Susan Caruana, told the outlet in 2018 that she believed Alex’s mother Melanie and grandad David had taken him to live with a ‘spiritual community’ somewhere in Morocco after wanting him to live an ‘alternative lifestyle’.
French journalist Remi Buhagiar of La Depeche newspaper explained that the young boy was picked up by a passing delivery driver who found him wandering the foothills of the Pyrenees with a rucksack and a skateboard before picking him up and listening to his story for “three hours”.
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The now 17-year-old believed to be Alex was found walking in the rain at night and had reportedly been travelling for days. As per Sky News, he told the passerby that he’d been kidnapped by his mother and had been living in a luxury house in Spain with a group of around 10 people.
Buhagiar went on to add that Batty “asked the driver if he could borrow his phone and sent a message via Facebook to his grandmother, saying he was fine and wanted to see her”, although he was unsure if she got the message.
The boy is currently being looked after by social services and Greater Manchester Police have been contacted via the embassy in Paris to put “safeguarding measures in place”.
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A spokesperson for GMP said: “This is a complex and long-running investigation, and we need to make further enquiries as well as putting appropriate safeguarding measures in place.”
We sincerely hope it indeed proves to be Alex and that he will soon be reunited with his family members back here in the UK.
Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
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More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
Danny Jones -
14th December 2023 
