So relieved to have him home

7:00am Tuesday 2nd December 2008

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The mother of missing Oxford teenager Daniel Becksey has described the three-day manhunt for her son as “a living nightmare”.

Nicola Becksey, 37, from Barton, said the ordeal had been “the worst week of my life”. She did not eat or sleep for three days worrying whether her son was dead or alive.

Last night she revealed that Daniel might have run away because he was the target of bullies on the estate where the family lives.

Ms Becksey said the whole family feared the worst after the 15-year-old left the family home in Waynflete Road on Tuesday but failed to show up at school.

The following day it emerged Daniel, who suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, had hitched a lift with a lorry driver from Pear Tree Services to Reading.

The man came forward after he realised Daniel fitted the description of a missing boy and is not under investigation.

More than 72 hours later, the youngster was tracked down after spending three nights sleeping rough.

Ms Becksey said she had been overwhelmed by the support of people living on the estate and thanked the Oxford Mail for covering the story.

She said: “The whole family, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, friends – even people we didn’t know – were out searching for Daniel.

“I’d like to say an enormous ‘thank you’ to everyone who helped.

“We didn’t sleep or eat for three days. We were living on cigarettes, tea and hope – we were worried sick. It’s been the worst week of my life.”

Daniel spent the weekend reunited with siblings Robert, 18, Claire, 16, and Jill, 14.

Daniel’s stepfather Ross King added: “I felt so useless because the police said we should wait at home in case he came back. I couldn’t stop pacing the floor.”

Ms Becksey said the family were relieved when the lorry driver who drove Daniel to Reading came forward after hearing about a missing teenager matching his description on the news.

Friends and family spent two days hunting for Daniel in Reading until police officers finally found him at a homeless shelter in the town.

The youngster had wandered in only minutes before in search of food.

Ms Becksey said: “When I walked into St Aldate’s police station on Friday I couldn’t stop crying.

“The emotions were unreal. I put my arms around Daniel and he said to me he wanted to come home. He’s such a lively character. The house went dead without him. There was a hole in our home.”

The mother-of-four said Daniel, who has a mental age of 10 and attends Iffley Mead School, had not yet spoken in detail about what happened to him while he was away.

She knows he slept rough for three days and at some point befriended someone who gave him a change of clothes and bought him food.

Daniel said: “I had half-an-hour’s sleep and one meal in nearly four days. When I got home I collapsed on my bed.

“My mum’s going to keep a tight leash on me now.”

Ms Becksey, who also thanked the police for helping find her son, said she suspected Daniel had run away because of bullying by a handful of young people living in Barton who saw him as an easy target.

The death of his paternal grandfather Robert Castle, 58, had also affected him.

Daniel, who loves looking after pets and playing computer games, said: “I don’t want to talk about why I left, but it’s good to be back.”