Inquest into Jay Slater's Tenerife death resumes today as family desperate for answers

Daily Record

2 days ago

The 19-year-old was holidaying on the Spanish island before his death.
The inquest into the tragic death of teenager Jay Slater, who died last summer in Tenerife, is set to continue.
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The 19 year old lad from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was on holiday on the Spanish island and had attended the NRG music festival with mates at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas on June 16 last year.
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It's believed that he went to a holiday let flat in the wee hours of the following morning before disappearing, and was reported missing on June 18. Evidence suggests he left the flat hours later, tried to walk back to his own flat and tragically fell into a ravine.
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A massive search was initiated before his body was discovered in a steep and inaccessible area by a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard near the village of Masca on July 15. Several witnesses who were with him on the night he vanished or at the holiday let flat failed to attend the inquest when it began at Preston Coroner's Court in May.
The court was told they could not be located or were unavailable, despite extensive efforts to bring them in as witnesses. Debbie Duncan, Mr Slater's mum, tearfully requested the coroner to adjourn as the family still had questions for the last people to see him alive.
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Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, agreed to adjourn until Thursday July 24 to make a final attempt to locate the witnesses. The hearing in May heard from witnesses including toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin, reports Wales Online.
The court was informed that analysis revealed traces of drugs – including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy – and alcohol in Mr Slater's body. Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd stated his post-mortem examination identified the cause of death as head injuries and there was no evidence of restraint or assault on Mr Slater's body, with the pattern of injuries being consistent with a fall from height.
Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Higson, from Lancashire Constabulary, revealed that police had analysed Mr Slater's phone data. On the night out, he had received messages from friends advising him to go home as he was "off his head".
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Phone location data indicated he travelled to the holiday flat then departed the property at around 7.45am the next day. Statements from local Spanish witnesses claimed they were approached by Mr Slater asking about buses or taxis to take him home.
Further messages from friends warned him about the "boiling" heat of the day but activity data on his phone ceased at 8.51am, suggesting the battery had run out. Marieke Krans from Dutch rescue charity Signi Zoekhonden assisted in the search.
She described the area where the body was discovered as being about a three and a half-hour walk from the holiday apartment and was "really steep, really dangerous", and it was "easy" to lose your footing. The coroner suggested to the hearing that one explanation for Mr Slater's death could be "he has walked into the middle of nowhere and fallen off a cliff".
The inquest is set to conclude on Friday.