Jay Slater sent chilling text to friend just hours before vanishing in Tenerife
Jay Slater sent a cryptic text to a friend while he was "buzzing" and seemingly experiencing "paranoia", according to an investigator.
The 19-year-old teen, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was holidaying in Tenerife and attended the NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas on June 16 last year. He is believed to have gone to a holiday rental apartment in the early hours of the next morning before vanishing.
He was reported missing on June 18 and his body was found in a ravine by a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard near the village of Masca on July 15. A post-mortem found Jay had consumed alcohol and drugs in the hours before he fell down the ravine.
According to former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, Jay wanted to carry on partying even though his friends left, which led him to make the decision to travel far away from his accommodation. An inquest today heard that when the teen said he was going to an Airbnb with new friends Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, his friend Brad Hargreaves, who was visiting the Spanish island with Jay and is also known as Bradley Geoghegan, "didn't think anything of it" as the pair were with them "for three days".
Previously, Detective Williams-Thomas said in a podcast: "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." He added that at 2.35am, Jay sent a cryptic text to a friend, saying: "They've got a marker on me."
His friend replied to the text at 3am, saying: "You need to go home lad you're off your barnet." Jay then replied by writing: "You think I'm going home you must be disabled." At this stage, the investigator said, Jay "was very heavily under the influence of drink and drugs."
According to Mr Williams-Thomas, it is possible that "some paranoia" was present "because his friends were saying he was not making much sense and being argumentative which was very unlike Jay." He added: "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."
The investigator's comments have resurfaced after Mr Qassim gave evidence to the inquiry today, saying he met Jay and his friends out in Tenerife. He said he had been in a different venue then later met Jay and his friend Bradley getting something to eat after the clubs closed.
Mr Qassim described Jay as: "On a buzz. Chilled, happy. Mingling in'it." He said Jay then asked if he could come back to his and Mr Roccas' apartment. Giving evidence via videolink, Mr Qassim told the hearing: "I did say, 'Bro, oh mate, it's so far away from the strip.' There's nothing happening there other than scenery. I said I would drop him off in the morning. He rolled with us."
The coroner then asked the witness about messages Jay had sent about a watch possibly being stolen. Mr Qassim said while still on the strip before leaving for their apartment he saw what he described as a Romanian "lucky-lucky" man take a watch from another person before trying to sell it to him and Jay. He added: "Jay did not steal no watch. I can say one hundred per cent."
While on the drive to the Airbnb, Jay then posted a message to friends on social media, saying: "Just took a 12k Rolly (Rolex) off some c*** with this Maili (Somalian) kid. Off to get 10 quid (thousand) for it. Off my undies ha, ha, ha." Coroner Dr Adeley asked the witness: "You were not involved in taking a watch?" Mr Qassim replied: "No. And neither was he."
Asked to explain the social media post by Jay, the witness said: "He could be boasting to his friends. He's on a buzz, so maybe it could be that. Sometimes people do exaggerate." The coroner continued: "But so far as you are concerned, none of that is true?"
Mr Qassim said: "No. One hundred per cent. I didn't see a watch. At this point he's just firing off messages." He said when they got to his Airbnb he gave Jay a blanket and pillow and told him he could sleep on the sofa downstairs before going off to his own bed.
He said that from upstairs he could hear Jay moving around and heard the door open. He fell asleep and then was woken by the door buzzing because someone wanted him to move his car, the inquest heard.
Mr Qassim said when he returned to the house, Jay was leaving and told him: "I'm going to catch a bus." He said: "I went 'bro, there ain't no buses coming here any time soon'."
He said Jay said he had been told there were buses every 10 minutes. He told him that was wrong but Jay left anyway, he said. He added: "At that point I presumed he'd sit at that bus stop and that's it. He's waiting till the first bus comes and he's out of there."
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