An inquest into the tragic teen’s death at Preston Coroner’s Court was adjourned on Wednesday after the coroner and an official pathologist confirmed a flurry of new details
An inquest exploring the circumstances of Jay Slater’s shock death has revealed a host of new details about the tragic teen’s disappearance and subsequent recovery from a ravine.
Jay, 19, went missing after leaving an Airbnb in the village of Masca in Teno, Tenerife, in June 2024, prompting a massive manhunt that grabbed international headlines for more than a month. When his lifeless body was recovered from the bottom of the Juan Lopez ravine on July 15, authorities concluded he had died from massive trauma, including a serious brain injury.
The now-adjourned inquest at Preston Coroner’s Court has clarified a host of facts, including shedding light on the cause of his death, and the Oswaldtwistle teen’s final moments.
READ MORE: Jay Slater’s tragic final moments and phone call during fatal walk as cause of death confirmed in inquest
Jay’s haunting last message
The court heard that Jay sent his last text message at 2.39am on the morning he disappeared, when he would have just returned from the NRG music festival. The message to a friend was received with concern, with his friend telling him to “come home” and that he was “off your barnet”.
He wrote: “They’ve got a marker on me.” And the friend replied: “You need to get home lad, you’re off your barnet.”
Key witnesses ‘can’t be found’
Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves, two people who were with the trainee bricklayer in Tenerife and had featured prominently in coverage of Jay’s disappearance, have not been found. Coroner Dr James Adeley said the two key witnesses had “denied who they are” ahead of the hearing earlier today.
The coroner told the court they “cannot be located”, saying: “We can’t find them. They have denied who they are and we have had police looking for them but we can’t find them.”
Teen’s official cause of death
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said Jay may have died “in an instant” after falling into the ravine, stating the fall would have had an “immediate and devastating effect on Jay’s consciousness”. He added that the teen had sustained “severe” injuries before concluding the official cause of death was a head injury, agreeing with an earlier consensus offered by Spanish pathologists.
He said: “The injuries were so severe I have not doubt he would have been instantly unconscious from the moment of that blow to the head. Death could well have been instant the injury was so severe. Jay would undoubtedly be unconscious and unaware. It’s most likely death would have occurred instantly or extremely soon afterwards.”
The knives photo
One witness, Josh Forshaw, told the inquest he had met Jay and his friends as they queued to board their plane from Manchester to Tenerife, and that the two had traded contact details. Josh said the group “seemed dead happy”, adding Jay had later sent him a photo with “knives down his trousers”.
He said the photo was captioned: “In case it kicks off”. While Josh didn’t inform Spanish police of the photo, he said he informed Lancashire Police when he returned home to the UK.
Officials investigated whether Jay was restrained
Dr Shepherd told the inquest that he had considered whether Jay was restrained or assaulted before his death, and that this was “something I would always look to identify”. He ultimately concluded that there was “nothing to suggest” the teen had been assaulted or restrained.
The pathologist said: “That’s something I considered very carefully, something I would always look to identify. The pattern of the injuries when someone is assaulted or restrained are very different from the type of injuries and pattern I found with Jay.”
When questioned whether there was anything “to suggest that was the case” the pathologist added: “Nothing to suggest an assault, gripping, holding, nothing of that sort.”