My gut feeling is Andrew met up with someone he knew. Maybe someone he knew from school or an aquintance. I wonder how thoroughly the police looked into the people in Andrews life at that time.
I agree with this. I think sometimes we overthink scenarios, e.g. thinking it must have been someone on the internet, even though he didnt really have that much internet access, so the truth is, it probably had nothing to do with the internet.
Ive had a few thoughts re this, and going on the above basis, that it was someone closer to home, who is the one person a 14 year old kid trusts, almost as much as their Mum and Dad? A teacher. I did a quick google search for "Doncaster paedo teacher" and at least 4 names came up on various links, and that was just on page 1. All convicted after 2007. And they were only the ones that were caught.
I wonder how much investigation was done into the whereabouts of all teachers at his school that week. And more importantly, did any of the above 4 teachers have any links with Andrew, even at his primary school? They would only have had to have had to have crossed paths for a couple of years for that trust to be built. Its easy to see a scenario where Andrew bumps into an old teacher, gets talking about museums (or some other interest) that he's still not visited, and the teacher saying he/she's down in London that week so he should come down, and they'll give him a lift home
That would explain away the lack of clothes, the lack of PSP charger and also the non-purchase of return train ticket. If this was the scenario, then a teacher saying it was ok to bunk off a day, might also have given him the confidence to do it, as Andrew wasnt the kind of person to do that. Could that teacher even have told Andrew they'd be able to cover off Andrews absence? The school would have needed a note from his parents as to why he was off.
I do believe Andrew planned to come home that day. If he didnt, not taking additional clothing makes no sense at all. I also believe he would have left some kind of note.
Yes it was out of character, but I really believe that he was so certain of coming home that day that he didnt feel he needed to tell his mum and dad anything, and by the time he was back, they wouldnt even know he'd gone.
Just a few thoughts anyway.