Jay Slater, 19, died from catasrophic injuries consistent with a steep fall in Tenerfie – after he claimed he had stolen a £12,000 Rolex and was pictured with knives on the morning he vanished
Jay Slater admitted stealing a £12,000 Rolex and was pictured with knives before he was found dead in a remote national park in Tenerife last June, an inquest heard. The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, suffered catastrophic injuries consistent with a steep fall in a rocky area, with his remains finally found a month after search and rescue teams scoured an area near the quiet Spanish village of Masca.
The teenager had vanished after attending the NRG music festival on the Spanish island with pals. An inquest into his death on Wednesday heard claims that Jay stolen a Rolex worth an estimated £12,000 before he went missing. Between 5:03am and 5:52am on the morning Jay vanished, a message was sent from his phone saying: “Just took a £12k Rolly off some **** off to get 10 quid for it now.”
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The inquest heard Jay sent a message to witness Josh Forshaw where he said: “Ended up getting thrown out with two Mali kids, just took an AP [expensive watch strap] off somebody and was on the way to sell it.”
Shortly before his death, Jay also sent Josh Forshaw a photo of himself with “knives down his trousers”. He captioned the image “in case it kicks off”. Josh said he didn’t inform Spanish police about the image. It wasn’t until he returned home to the UK that he reported it to Lancashire Police.
Key witnesses in the case, including some of Jay’s pals, could not be located to attend Wednesday’s inquest hearing. Among these were Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, whose Airbnb Jay had gone back to after the music festival. But when Jay’s mum Debbie was asked if she was content for their initial statements to be read into evidence, she pleaded with the coroner to bring “these people in front of us”.
The coroner’s office had already gone to significant lengths to locate the two men, including asking the Metropolitan Police to serve witness summons on them, but their efforts have so far been unsuccessful.
The coroner then adjourned the inquest, suggesting it will likely resume “in a couple of months”. Dr James Adeley said: “The question in any inquest is that of how somebody comes by their death. The difficulty is in the interpretation. We could simply deal with Jay’s death by the fact that he has walked into the middle of nowhere and fallen off a cliff.”
Addressing Jay’s mother Debbie, he continued: “However, you wish to speak to the witnesses, who last saw him. You have heard of the difficulties we have had trying to find these two witnesses. In view of your distress and your need for answers we will make an attempt to find them again using whatever means we can. I am not confident of success but I will do what I can.”
According to Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, Jay’s cause of death was a head injury. A CT scan showed there was “a severe fracture of the head”, while Spanish authorities also concluded that the teenager suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. “The injury is so severe that death was either instantaneous or extremely quick,” Dr Shepherd said.
Toxicologist Dr Stephanie Martin told the inquest that, although tests when someone who has been dead for some time are “extremely challenging”, she determined that Jay had ecstasy in his system at the time of his death. Also present was a cocaine metabolite, which is present when cocaine is taken at the same time as the consumption of alcohol.
The inquest continues.