Tenerife teenager Jay Slater died in accidental fall, coroner rules

South Wales Guardian

7 days ago

The 19-year-old had told his friends he was 'in the middle of the mountains' and in need of a drink, as he attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out, Preston Coroner's Court has heard.
Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was holidaying on the Spanish island and had been to the NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas on June 16 last year.
But he vanished the next morning after going with two men to an Airbnb in Masca, a village in the mountains miles from his holiday apartment in Los Cristianos.
A huge search was launched after he was reported missing on June 18, and his body was found by a mountain rescue team almost a month later in the steep and inaccessible Juan Lopez ravine, on July 15.
The inquest heard his phone battery had died and he needed a drink but had no water as he set off on the 14-hour walk home in the early morning.
As temperatures grew he left the road and ended up in the ravine, where his body was found having suffered severe head injuries from a fall.
Concluding a two-day inquest into his death, Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, said: 'Jay fell at a particularly dangerous area in difficult terrain.
'He fell approximately 20 to 25 metres, suffering skull fractures and brain trauma from which he would have died instantaneously. Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death.
'This is a tragic death of a young man.'
Dr Adeley said the evidence showed there was no one else involved in the death and no evidence to suggest Mr Slater had been threatened, assaulted, was under duress or in fear for his safety.
The coroner told Mr Slater's family sat in court that he hoped the 'examination of facts rather than conjecture' during the hearing had been some consolation to them.
Mr Slater's tearful mother, Debbie Duncan, had earlier given a tribute to her son at the hearing on Friday, saying: 'He was very loved and our hearts are broken,' Ms Duncan said.
'Our lives will never be the same without Jay in it.'
Earlier, the inquest heard from his friends and the last people to speak to him on the morning he disappeared.
Bradley Geoghegan, on holiday with Mr Slater said his friend had taken ecstasy pills, and possibly ketamine, along with cocaine and alcohol, on the night out before he disappeared.
The next morning, Mr Geoghegan said he got a video call from Mr Slater, who was walking along a road and was still 'under the influence', the inquest heard.
Mr Geoghegan said: 'I said put your maps on to see how far you were. It was like a 14-hour walk or an hour drive. I said, 'Get a taxi back', then he just goes, 'I will ring you back'.'
Coroner Dr James Adeley asked the witness: 'Did you get the impression he was in any way threatened or fearful, or under duress in a difficult situation?'
Mr Geoghegan replied: 'No. I think he probably got there and thought, 'Why am I here?', sobered up and decided to come back.'
Another friend, Lucy Law, called him around 8.30am and had sent him a message saying: 'Go back to wherever the f*** you just came from before it gets boiling.'
She said on the call she asked him: 'What on earth are you doing? 'Where are you?
'He was just, 'I'm in the middle of the mountains'.'
She asked him what he could see, and he replied: 'Nothing. Literally nothing. There's literally just mountains.'
Mr Slater also said he needed a drink and asked if cactus are poisonous.
Ms Law added: 'By this stage, I'm panicking.'
Another friend, Brandon Hodgson, in a statement to Spanish police, said Mr Slater contacted him on a video call around 8.30am showing him surrounded by mountains, with his phone battery down to 3%.
Mr Hodgson said his friend was 'laughing and joking' and got the impression he was 'out of his mind'.
He told police: 'Jay is mentally very child-like', and so he called Ms Law so she could call him to 'solve the problem'.
Excerpts from information from the Spanish authorities was read out by the coroner, Dr Adeley, including excerpts from the local Mountain Rescue services.
It said the search for Mr Slater continued for 29 days and involved large-scale operations involving helicopters, dogs, drones and rescue teams.
On July 15, they searched the treacherous Juan Lopez Ravine, where Mr Slater's body was found, an area described as having sheer cliffs and deep dense undergrowth.
It was a little used area as it has no water and has to be accessed using machetes to cut through dense vegetation.
Around 20 metres above where the body was found was Mr Slater's Armani bag with his phone and nitrous oxide gas canisters inside.
The Spanish authorities said they could not explain why Mr Slater 'took a chance' to leave the road to descend down the ravine and he was unfamiliar with the area and his phone battery had died.
But the sea can be seen from the head of the ravine, and they suggested he may have believed he could reach a beach and get help.
The report said: 'It would be easy to slip on the rocks and fall into the void.
'The death of the missing person must have occurred as a result of an accidental fall.'
Earlier, Ayub Qassim said Mr Slater had asked to come back to the Airbnb apartment where he and friend Stephen Roccas were staying.
Mr Qassim described Mr Slater as: 'On a buzz. Chilled, happy. Mingling.'
He told the inquest he went to bed when they returned and could hear Mr Slater downstairs.
He was woken about an hour later because he needed to move his car and when he returned to the house Mr Slater was leaving and said he was going to catch a bus.
He said: 'I went 'bro, there ain't no buses coming here any time soon'.'
He said Mr Slater left, despite him explaining that buses did not pass regularly.
He added: 'At that point I presumed he'd sit at that bus stop and that's it. He's waiting 'til the first bus comes and he's out of there.'
Mr Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan had asked for the inquest into the death to be resumed on Thursday after a number of witnesses failed to give evidence at the last hearing in May.
She said Mr Slater's family still had questions about their loved one's death that needed answers.
Coroner's officer Alice Swarbrick told the hearing efforts had been made to contact Mr Roccas and Mr Slater's friend Brandon Hodgson, but neither had responded.
The hearing in May heard from a number of witnesses, including toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin.
The court heard analysis showed traces of drugs, including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy, along with alcohol, were found in Mr Slater's body.
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said his post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as head injuries, and Mr Slater's body showed no evidence of restraint or assault, with the pattern of injuries consistent with a fall from a height.
Marieke Krans, from Dutch rescue charity Signi Zoekhonden – which uses dogs, helped in the search.
She said the area where the body was found was about a three-and-a-half-hour walk from the Airbnb and was 'really steep, really dangerous', and it was 'easy' to lose your footing.