Jay Slater’s devastated family have heard new details on his final hours, as the tragic teens inquest enters its second day in court. Members of the mountain rescue team have explained what might have happened
Jay Slater’s distraught family are finally getting answers on how the teen tragically lost his way in a rocky ravine in Tenerife.
After Jay’s heartbroken mum Debbie Duncan tearfully pleaded for key witnesses to come forward when many failed to turn up at her son’s first inquest hearing in May, three of his friends have finally given evidence in court, alongside rescue officials who helped to find Jay’s body after a huge days-long search operation.
They have given fresh insight into Jay’s final hours and how he ended up lost and alone in the trecherous surroundings.
The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Lancashire was partying at NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas before he ended up at a holiday rental apartment in the early hours of June 17 last summer.
Evidence suggests he left the flat hours later, attempted the long walk back to his own apartment and tragically fell into a ravine. Drugs and alcohol were found in Jay’s system, and friends had pleaded with him to head home before he met his tragic fate, the inquest heard.
In court on Thursday, where numerous family members were attendance, it was heard that Jay was reported missing at 9am on Monday, June 17, as per a report from Spanish authorities. Mountain rescue teams were notified of his disappearance at 8pm that evening.
Giving evidence of the dangers of the ravine Jay found himself in, they said the initial details they were given was that “when looking for the bus stop he had a fall and was afraid of dying and his phone had no battery”.
The mountain rescue specialists told the coroner that the teen’s lack of experience in mountain regions, recklessness, lack of fitness or self-control, and lack of equipment will have played a part in his death. The weather and loose falling rocks could also have been a factor.
The experts “could not explain” why Jay chose to go down into the ravine, the inquest heard. It wasn’t an area that he was familiar with, and the direction he was headed in could have given the impression there was a settlement, they said. The ravine is full of dense undergrowth and sheer, high cliffs.
As Jay had been on the move since the previous day, where he had been intoxicated, with no rest, his faculties “will have been greatly reduced,” the rescue team said. The area is very unforgiving with a steep slope and it would be easy to slip on the rocks and fall into the void.
Their conclusion was that in their opinion, the death must have occurred as an accidental fall. The fact the bag was 15-20 metres above him indicates he was walking at this location when he fell.
The post mortem findings matched with a fall from height. But the rescue team did note that heartbreakingly, Jay may have walked down the road he did to try and seek assistance.
They told the inquest that the only other plausible explanation is that he thought there was a beach or settlement at the end of the ravine where he could have sought help.
The first inquest hearing in May heard from witnesses including toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin. The court heard that analysis showed traces of drugs – including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy – and alcohol in Jay’s body.
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said his post-mortem examination gave cause of death as head injuries and Jay’s body showed no evidence of restraint or assault, with the pattern of injuries consistent with a fall from height.
Elsewhere at Thursday’s hearing, one of the last people to see Jay alive revealed that she left him a “fuming” voicemail before he vanished.
Jay’s friend Lucy Law, who had known the teen for around six or seven years, walked through the timeline of his last night out on Sunday, June 16.
She and friend Brandon Hodgson had gone to a bar called Veronica’s to watch the England match. Jay and another pal, Bradley Hargreaves, joined them for around 20 minutes and then left.
The group met up again later on at around midnight. When asked how drunk Jay was, Lucy told the court: “He was visibly intoxicated but I wouldn’t say he was in a state or anything, he wasn’t mangled.”
Lucy said the group then headed back out to the festival. She told the inquest that Jay said he was going to the toilet, however he was taking a long time. When he didn’t return after a while, Lucy said she went to find him.
“We all split up to try and find him in the place but then none of us could find him in there so at this point our phones were nearly dead and he was still not answering his phone,” she said.
“We left to see if we could find him outside. We had a look on The Strip. At this point I thought he’s probably made mates with someone or has found a girl and ventured off.”
She told the inquest that Jay was a “social butterfly” and it would not be unusual for him to go off and make friends.
Lucy continued: “Then he messaged us and said ‘I’m in Oasis’. We couldn’t see him. Then he messaged saying he was in Sugar Reef which is two or three clubs up. But we couldn’t see him there either.”
After not being able to find him, Lucy left Jay a voicemail which said: “Where are you and what are you doing? I am coming down to get you. If you’re not there this time I will be f****** fuming.”
Lucy eventually found Jay, but he reportedly told her that he wasn’t ready to head home yet. She told the inquest: “I said we’d all been worried about him but he just found the situation funny. Me and Brandon want you to go home and he said ‘there’s no way I’m going home’.
“I asked him to wait there and went back up to get Brandon and Brad. Me and Brandon got in a taxi, Brad walked down to meet Jay. I went home from there so I don’t know what happened after that.”
Lucy’s evidence comes as Jay’s other friend, convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, told the inquest that he offered the tragic teen a place to stay at his flat in Masca, approximately 40 minutes away from the strip where the group had been partying.
Jay asked Quassim if he could stay with him at his place, because everyone else had left. When they eventually got back to the Airbnb, Jay reportedly asked Quassim for a phone charger.
The pal told the inquest: “He asked for a charger. I said go and get it in Rocky’s room. He has gone in there and grabbed the charger from the side of his bed and stuck it in the kitchen.
“He started charging it in the kitchen. I ran upstairs and grabbed him a blanket. I went past the bathroom and grabbed him a towel as well. I said ‘that’s you innit’.
Of their final conversation, Quassim said: “He asked for a fag and I left my deck downstairs. I said goodnight and went upstairs.”
Just hours later, Jay is said to have left the property to start walking home, but he never made it back.
The inquest enters its second and final day today.
