Jay Slater's inquest hears two friends with him before his disappearance 'cannot be located'
An inquest into the death of teenager Jay Slater after he went missing on the island of Tenerife has heard that, despite the fact that police are searching for them, two friends he was with just before he disappeared "cannot be located".
The proceedings are taking place into the 19-year-old's death today at Preston Coroner's Court, overseen by senior coroner Dr James Adeley, who also presided over Nicola Bulley's case two years ago.
As the hearing got underway this morning, Dr Adeley informed the court that neither Lucy Law nor Brad Hargreaves, who had been with the Oswaldtwistle bricklayer in Tenerife and attended the NRG music festival on the Spanish island last June, could be found prior to the inquest.
The coroner stated that both individuals, who could have been key witnesses in the inquest, had "denied who they are" ahead of today's hearing.
Dr Adeley told the court that Lucy and Brad "cannot be located", adding: "We can't find them.
"They have denied who they are and we have had police looking for them but we can't find them."
Jay had attended an event at the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas before travelling to an Airbnb in the Rural Parc de Teno in the north of the island on June 17 last year.
He attempted to return to the flat where he was staying with friends in Los Cristianos on foot, before going missing, and after a four-week search, Jay was found dead on July 15 in the Juan Lopez ravine, near to the remote village of Masca in Teno.
His body was identified using a 'palm print', and Cheryl McGowan, Lancashire Constabulary's senior fingerprint expert, said she compared this with records held by the police and she is confident that "it's definitely a positive identification".
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd told the inquest: "There were extensive changes due to decomposition. There were changes due to the period of time he was lying in a hot environment - changes I would expect to see in that period of 28 days or thereabouts."The pathologist says Jay suffered several injuries but "that to the head is by far the most important one in understanding why Jay died".
Dr Shepherd explained that this involved "the application of considerable force", adding: "The pattern of injuries is entirely consistent with a heavy fall from height."The head injury which Jay suffered "would have had an immediate and devastating effect", Dr Shepherd says. "The injury is so severe that I have no doubt at all that he would have been rendered immediately unconscious."The pathologist has provided a cause of death as head injury. A CT scan showed there was "a severe fracture of the head".
The Spanish authorities also concluded that the cause of Jay's death was a severe traumatic brain injury, the inquest heard.
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