Jay Slater investigator's key theory on what led to death of missing teen
Ex-detective Mark Williams-Thomas said Jay Slater was "buzzing" and wanted to carry on partying even though his friends left, which led him to make the decision to travel far away from his hotel
An investigator looking into the circumstances surrounding Jay Slater's final hours has shared a new theory about what led to his death.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas said the key to knowing why Jay, 19, ended up in the north of the Spanish island of Tenerife, far away from his accommodation, was easy to understand. A post-mortem found Jay had consumed alcohol and drugs in the hours before he fell down a ravine. His disappearance on June 17 triggered a massive manhunt before his body was discovered on July 15 last year.
Mark-Williams added: "Jay was still buzzing at 6am from the alcohol and drugs but his friends wanted to go home, so when Qassim told Jay that he could go back to theirs and continue partying he jumped at the chance," Mr Williams-Thomas said.
The investigator said Jay had a "marker" on him and believes this could have been a paranoia. He continued: "2.35am - Jay sent a cryptic text to a friend saying 'they've got a marker on me', the friend replied at 3am with the message 'you need to go home lad you're off your barnet'. Jay then replied 'you think I'm going home you must be disabled.'"
Mr Thomas-Williams continued: "We know that at this stage Jay was very heavily under the influence of drink and drugs and it is highly likely that some paranoia was present because his friends were saying he was not making much sense and being argumentative which was very unlike Jay.
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"Jay had no official marker on him, and yes he was around people selling drugs and he could have upset people that morning because of his state."
He added that his investigation at the Airbnb: "Strongly rules out third party involvement (in Jay's death) from the time he was at the rental." An inquest into Jay's death was adjourned last month after his mum pleaded for more witnesses to come forward and share what they knew.
She said: "We want these people to be sat in front of us, because our son went on holiday and didn't come back, so there's questions we need to ask." Several witnesses were asked to give evidence at the hearing at Preston Coroner's Court but they have not been traced or have been unable to attend.
The group of Jay's friends who were asked to give evidence included Lucy Law, whose stepfather Andy Davis said she had no idea the inquest was taking place. The coroner subsequently suspended proceedings to a later date in a bid to gather more witness statements.
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