Jay Slater inquest LIVE: Brit teen's pal Lucy Mae Law, 20, appears after missing first hearing while on Tenerife holiday
The Brit made a heartbreaking final call to Lucy, 20, saying he had cut his leg, was lost and dehydrated just before Jay vanished last year.
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Lucy and Brad Hargreaves, friends Jay was on holiday with, and Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, who Jay went to the Airbnb with, all failed to attend the first inquest hearing in May.
Lucy's family revealed she was on holiday on the very same island where Jay died and totally unaware the inquest was going on.
An emotional plea from Debbie to trace them and compel them to give evidence prompted coroner Dr James Adeley to postpone the inquest until today.
Debbie told the hearing in May: "There are things that we want to question. We want these people in front of us.
"My son went on holiday and didn't come back so there are questions we need to ask. Please."
Lucy's hearing comes after Brad spoke to the court and convicted drug dealer Qassim also said his side of the story.
Qassim, one of the final people to see Jay alive, addressed the hearing via videolink from another country.
Jay's body was found in a ravine in the remote Rural de Teno National Park last July after an agonising 29-day search.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay flew to the Spanish island last June to attend the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas with two friends, Lucy and Brad.
After a night of partying on June 17, the teen travelled to an Airbnb apartment in Masca with two men - Qassim and Roccas.
Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, phoned Brad after he left the Airbnb at around 8am and attempted to make the treacherous walk to his holiday apartment in sweltering heat.
Today, 11:08 By Katie Davis
Brad recounts their trip to Tenerife
Brad said he and Jay landed in Tenerife in the early hours of June 13.
He said they flew to Tenerife with Lucy Law, and took a taxi to where they were staying.
Brad said they then went out drinking until 5am and met Brandon Hodgson, Steven Roccas and Ayub Qassim.
Today, 11:06 By Katie Davis
Brad gives evidence to the court
We are now hearing from Jay's friend Brad Geoghegan, who Jay was on holiday with in Tenerife.
He said he had been friends with Jay since the start of secondary school.
Today, 11:01 By Katie Davis
Jay's friend Brad arrives at court
Jay's friend Brad Hargreaves - also known as Geoghegan - has arrived at Preston Coroner's Court.
Brad was summoned to attend the hearing in May but was on holiday.
He is in court today, while Lucy is due to give evidence via videolink.
Today, 10:37 By Katie Davis
Dr James Adeley leading today's hearing
Today's hearing is being overseen by Dr James Adeley, who led the initial hearing in May.
Dr Adeley - who has two decades of experience as a coroner - also oversaw the inquest into the death of Nicola Bulley in 2023.
He is a qualified barrister and medical surgeon.
Today, 10:32 By Katie Davis
Jay's dad and brother arrive at court
Jay's dad Warren and brother Zak have now arrived at Preston Coroner's Court.
The pair spent day after day walking the remote mountains of northern Tenerife after Jay disappeared on June 17 last year.
Extra security has been drafted in for today's hearing.
The hearing was due to start at 10am, but people are still arriving at court.
Debbie, Warren and Zak are all wearing blue heart pins with the letter J on.
Today, 10:14 By Katie Davis
Jay's friend Lucy Law due to give evidence
Jay's friend Lucy Law - who he was on holiday with in Tenerife - is due to give evidence via videolink today.
Lucy did not attend the last hearing, and was understood to be in Tenerife.
Jay made a final heartbreaking call to Lucy on the morning of his death.
The 19-year-old told her he had cut his leg, was lost, dehydrated and had just one per cent battery on his phone.
Today, 09:50 By Katie Davis
Jay's mum Debbie arrives at court
Jay's mum Debbie Duncan has arrived at Preston Coroner's Court for today's hearing.
The last hearing in May was adjourned after heartbroken Debbie pleaded for crucial witnesses to be tracked down.
The inquest is due to last two days.
By Katie Davis
Who are the missing witnesses?
The previous hearing on May 21 heard how several witnesses had not been located to give evidence.
Jay's friend Lucy Law was believed to be in Tenerife, while pal Brad Geoghegan had told the coroner's office he would be on holiday.
The two men staying at the remote Airbnb Jay went to hours before his death also failed to be traced.
Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas did not attend the last hearing, despite summonses being issued.
Coroner Dr Adeley said renewed efforts would be made to track them down before today's hearing.
It remains unclear whether these key witnesses will appear at today or tomorrow's hearing.
Today, 09:37 By Katie Davis
'So many unanswered questions'
Jay's devastated mum Debbie previously opened up to The Sun about how she is tortured by 'so many questions' over what happened when he went missing.
The grieving mum said she 'could not get her head around' why Jay got into a car with two older men after the music festival and went to their Airbnb apartment.
School assistant Debbie also questioned why his friend Lucy did not race to pick him up.
Fighting back tears, she told The Sun: 'I don't know what he thought he was doing by going with these two guys. I really don't know.
'I can't get my head round why he just didn't go back to his own friends, and went with them.
'In our minds, we think he's not realised where he was going.
'And it was dark. I just think he's not even thought about or knew which direction he was going.'
Brave Debbie also told how Jay was a "loving and popular" teen who "had the world at his feet".
She also defended a GoFundMe page that was set up to support the family after endless abuse from trolls.
Today, 09:23 By
Mum's plea to locate witnesses
The last hearing was adjourned in May after Jay's mum Debbie Duncan pleaded with the coroner to locate crucial witnesses.
The court summoned Jay's friends Lucy and Brad, who he went to Tenerife with, as well as Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, who Jay went back to the Airbnb with.
But the hearing was told how in most cases they were either "unknown" at addresses held by police or there was no answer.
Contact via mobile phone and email also went unanswered.
Debbie pleaded with the coroner to locate Qassim and Roccas.
She said: "I know you tried to locate them but how can we ever get any understanding?
"We know he died, we know he had an accident, but from him leaving that holiday resort to going up there?
"We read the statements. There are things that we want to question. We want these people in front of us.
"My son went on holiday and didn't come back so there are questions we need to ask. Please."
Today, 09:17 By Katie Davis
Why inquest farce was more pain for family
At the last hearing in May, Jay's family were subjected to yet more torment as an inquest into his death dredged up painful details of his disappearance - while lacking any actual answers.
Jay 's courageous mum Debbie Duncan opened up to me just weeks after his body was found about how she was tortured by not knowing what happened to her beloved son before he fell to his death.
I was humbled by the bravery she showed in the face of living every parent's worst nightmare on the world stage - relentlessly hounded by mindless trolls.
Spineless witnesses failing to turn up to the hearing to provide crucial information was a kick in the teeth for Debbie and Jay's already suffering family.
The 19-year-old went missing 13 months ago, and his body tragically discovered 29 days later.
So why after all those months did the court failed to bring together vital witnesses - including the two friends he was on holiday with?
Today, 09:10 By Georgie English
Tenerife hotspot where Jay Slater died is WORSE a year on
The streets in notorious Tenerife party town Playa de las Americas, where British teen Jay Slater took a powerful cocktail of drugs before falling to his death is still heaving with blatant criminality.
Sun reporters went out to the strip and found people luring tourists into a bar with the promise of 'a free line' of cocaine with their first drink.
Two prostitutes in skin-tight bodycon dresses could be seen loitering outside while down the road, 'looky-looky' men circulate, offering Class-A drugs.
A police car crawls past, its head-lights on the crowds of holiday-makers, but the officers inside seem blind to the blatant criminality.
Student Georgina Haywood, 19, who had just flown in from Manchester with her boyfriend, told us: 'We went into a bar next to KFC and I wouldn't go back again.
'Looky-looky men were all around offering cheap drugs and we've heard if you buy them, they will mug you as soon as they see the cash.
'On the transfer bus over here we were talking to three men who told us they'd been robbed every time they'd come here."
Today, 09:04 By Katie Davis
Route Jay took was 'steep and dangerous'
At the last hearing, Dutch rescue team Signi Zoekhonden told the hearing how the route Jay took was "pretty easy" to begin with but where his body was found is "really steep and dangerous".
The volunteers said they "can imagine how Jay thought he was going to make it" from the Airbnb back to the coast.
Jay was attempting the treacherous 10-hour walk back to his apartment in Los Cristianos when he called Lucy to say he was lost.
DCI Rachel Higson, head of digital media investigations at Lancashire Police, told the hearing that Jay's phone recorded "a lot of steps and inclines" between 7.59am and 8.49am.
His mobile last pinged in the mountainous Rural de Teno Park after Jay walked the wrong way from the Airbnb, and DCI Higson said there was "no data recorded" after 8.49:51am.
After a month-long search, Jay's body was found in a ravine on July 15 last year - near where his phone last pinged.
A post-mortem examination concluded he died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height.
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd told the inquest Jay suffered a "heavy fall from height" and the "devastating" effects would have been "immediate".
Today, 09:00 By Katie Davis
I was there when Jay's body was found – this is why the case still haunts me
"You covered Jay Slater, didn't you?"
It's a question I've been asked time and again for the best part of a year now.
And every time it makes my stomach churn as their eyes light up, hoping I will lift the lid on the ridiculous conspiracy theories they've lapped up.
Jay's story is one I have followed from the moment he went missing in Tenerife on June 17 last year - and it is one of those cases that will never leave me.
I was never convinced by the relentless armchair detectives - nor the outlets that regurgitated baseless theories.
Outrageous claims include that Jay skipped the island on a yacht, fell foul of a drug cartel, and had been tied up hostage with chains.
Jay's grieving mum wept as she opened up to me following his untimely death - and as I looked her in the eyes, I could feel the unspeakable toll of pain she was suffering.
I was the only reporter in the mountains of Masca when police confirmed Jay's body had been found, and I can still feel the shock pulsing through me after a long 29-day search.
Today, 08:56 By Katie Davis
Why was the last hearing adjourned?
The last inquest hearing into Jay's death was adjourned after his grieving mum begged the coroner to summon crucial witnesses.
Senior Coroner Dr James Adeley told the hearing in May that Lucy is among those who could not be tracked down to give evidence.
He said Lucy and Brad - who attended Jay's funeral in Accrington last August - "can't be located".
Dr Adeley told Preston Coroner's Court as Jay's family sat in silence: "We can't find them.
"They have stopped responding to phone calls.
"When drugs are involved in a death, the witnesses are less than forthcoming and do not wish to speak to the authorities."
Coroner's officer Alice Swarbrick also revealed extensive attempts to trace other witnesses, including Qassim who the Met Police were unable to locate.
Mum Debbie pleaded for the coroner to do more to summon Qassim and the other man Jay went to the Airbnb with, Steven Roccas.
Dr Adeley paused the hearing before adjourning it to today.
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