Jay Slater's inquest halted as police can't find three key witnesses in Tenerife death probe
The inquest into the death of Jay Slater was momentarily halted as police confirmed that they could not locate three key witnesses in the probe of how the teenager died in Tenerife.
The inquest into the death of Jay Slater, a 19 year old bricklayer who died in Tenerife last year, was abruptly halted after contact was finally made with a key witness. The hearing at Preston Coroner's Court is investigating the circumstances surrounding his death on July 15, following a month-long search for him.
After attending the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas, Jay had travelled north to an Airbnb in the remote village of Masca in the early hours of June 17.
He then left the property on foot and subsequently went missing in the Rural Parc de Teno. This morning, the inquest heard that three crucial witnesses could not be located before today's proceedings. Alice Swarbrick, a coroner's officer, stated that police had tried to serve a witness summons on Lucy Law, a friend who was with Jay in Tenerife, but she couldn't be found.
It is believed that Lucy is currently in Tenerife. Brad Hargreaves, another friend who was with Jay in Tenerife last June, is thought to be on a holiday booked last October, added Ms Swarbrick.
Neither could be found by police prior to today's hearing, according to senior coroner Dr James Adeley, reports the Mirror.
Police have also been unable to locate a third key witness - Ayub Qassim, who rented out the Airbnb in Masca where Jay stayed after the festival.
The inquest heard that despite efforts by the Metropolitan Police to locate him, they were unable to do so. However, the proceedings were briefly paused when it was reported that one of the three absent witnesses had been contacted.
Jay's friends, Lucy and Brad, previously recounted how they had spoken to him as he attempted to walk back to their accommodation from the remote Airbnb, a journey that would have taken him 11 hours on foot. Tragically, he never made it.
Lucy received a distressing phone call from Jay at 8:15am, during which he told her he was lost and dehydrated, with only 1% of his phone battery remaining. After missing his bus, Jay explained that he was trying to find his way back using a Maps app, but the call suddenly cut out when his battery died at 8:50am.
Lucy told the Manchester Evening News: "He's gone on a night out, he's gone to a friend's house, someone that he has met on holiday. One of the people he has met has hired a car out of here, so he's driven them back to his apartment, and Jay has gone there, not realising how far away it is.
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"In the morning, he's set off walking, using his Maps on his phone and ended up in the middle of mountains with nothing around."
In a later interview with Sky News, Lucy revealed that Jay had suffered an injury, cutting his leg on a cactus as he attempted to navigate a remote path. On June 28, just two days before the official search was called off by Spanish police, Brad appeared on This Morning and shared his last conversation with Jay, who had promised to video call him back after hanging up because "someone else was ringing him".
Visibly moved as he remembered Jay's "zest for life", Brad revealed that Jay hadn't initially been concerned about finding his way back to his friends. He disclosed that he could hear the sound of Jay's feet sliding on rocks, indicating that he had "went off the road".
He elaborated: "That's how I knew he went off the road because, you know when you walk on gravel, or whatever it is, you can... you know what I mean, stones."
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