Jay Slater inquest resumes as teenager’s family seek answers over his death in Tenerife: Live updates

Jay Slater with his friend Lucy Law

Lancashire senior coroner Dr James Adeley said some of Mr Slater’s friends would be provided with new summonses to attend the resumed hearing in Preston this morning.

In May he asked the Slater family to pass his office any contact details which they had for them.

Before it was adjourned, the inquest was told Mr Slater had traces of cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine in his body when he was found dead – and had been ‘off his head on drugs’.

The hearing was also told that his friends had failed to attend to give their accounts.

Lucy Law – who received a call from the Mr Slater saying he was lost, had 1 per cent charge on his phone and needed water – is among those who could not be traced to give evidence, the coroner revealed.

Dr Adeley said police had failed in attempts to contact Ms Law and several of Mr Slater’s other British friends.

Witness summons were also issued for Josh Forshaw, Brad Hargreaves and Brandon Hodgson.

Jay Slater’s post-mortem and funeral will feature in a new Channel 4 documentary that will look into conspiracy theories surrounding the case.

The Disappearance Of Jay Slater will follow the story of the 19-year-old who vanished in Tenerife last June – only to be found dead a month later at the bottom of a ravine on the Spanish party island.

The film, which has been made in collaboration with Mr Slater’s family, will include exclusive access to his post-mortem and funeral.

It is also set to look at the conspiracy theories that stemmed from the story, the online abuse that the family still receive and the media coverage of the case.

Mr Slater’s disappearance last summer sparked a global internet storm – with armchair detectives sparking wild theories as to what happened to him.

Rita Daniels, Channel 4 commissioning editor, said:

The story of Jay Slater captured the nation last summer with a fervour and intensity fuelled by armchair detectives and internet culture. The film holds a light up to our current society and is exactly the story that is a necessity for Channel 4 to tell.

The release date for Channel 4’s new show is yet to be announced.

Here are the key events leading up to the discovery of Jay Slater’s body after the British teenager vanished in Tenerife in June 2024:

Jay Slater’s body was found in a mountainous area of Tenerife almost a month after he disappeared on the Spanish island.

The teenager is believed to have lost his footing and fallen while desperately trying to climb through a ravine to try and return to his hotel.

A post-mortem found that he died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height. His death would have been instantaneous.

Forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, who examined Mr Slater’s body after its repatriation to the UK, said at May’s inquest that injuries including severe skull and pelvis fractures were consistent from a fall from a height.

He found no sign of injuries associated with Mr Slater being assaulted prior to his death – but said his post mortem examination could not rule out the possibility that Jay had been pushed although there was nothing to indicate an assault.

Dr Shepherd said the injuries caused by the fall would have caused ‘instantaneous’ loss of consciousness and Mr Slater would have died soon afterwards.

Jay Slater captured international attention when he vanished on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife last June.

The 19-year-old apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, travelled to the Canary Islands with two friends to attend the New Rave Generation’ (NRG) music festival held over three days.

During the festival he went back to the house of two British men he had met at the festival, according to friends.

The following morning he phoned his friend to say he was walking back to his accommodation before he phone battery died.

During a near month-long disappearance, his whereabouts sparked intense online speculation and various conspiracy theories.

His body was found in a deep and desolate ravine less than two miles from where he was last seen.

The inquest into the death of Jay Slater was halted in May when his mother Debbie hit out after two British men who rented an Airbnb her son visited failed to attend.

The hearing was also told extensive efforts including summonses had been issued for several witnesses who were in contact with Mr Slater before he disappeared.

But Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan, 55, today made an emotional outburst after the two British men who rented the AirBnb – convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, 31, and Steven Roccas, previously known as ‘Rocky’– did not attend the hearing.

She told Lancashire senior coroner Dr James Adeley: ‘How can we ever get any understanding? We know he died, he had an accident.’

Sobbing, she added: ‘There’s things that we want to question. We want these people to be sat in front of us. Something went wrong that day, he didn’t come back. There’s questions we need to ask – please.’

The coroner adjourned the hearing so his staff could make further efforts to find Mr Qassim and Mr Roccas, but warned the family he was ‘not confident of success’.

Jay Slater’s family are today desperately hoping for answers about his death in a remote Tenerife ravine after pleading to hear from the British tourists who last saw him alive.

A huge search operation was launched after the 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire became separated from his friends after attending an all-night rave in June last year.

He had contacted them the following morning to say he was attempting to walk back from a remote village but was lost, had one per cent charge on his phone and needed water.

After weeks of social media speculation about how the apprentice bricklayer ended up in the mountains, his body was tragically found in a ravine a month later.

On May 21 an inquest in Preston, Lancashire was dramatically halted over the failure of two British men who drove Jay back to the village following the rave to attend court.

Police had attempted to serve witness summons on Ayub Qassim, a convicted drug dealer who was renting the AirBnB in Masca, and fellow Briton Steven Roccas, previously known as ‘Rocky’, but neither could be traced.

Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan sobbed as she begged Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, to make renewed efforts to trace them.

The hearing is due to resume this morning when she hopes to learn the answers to some of the unanswered questions which continue to surround Jay’s final hours.

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage as the inquest into the death of British teenager Jay Slater resumes in Preston this morning.

Jay, a 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was on holiday in Tenerife with friends when he disappeared in June last year. His body was discovered by mountain rescuers 29 days later in a a steep and inaccessible area.

His inquest was halted in May after two British men who rented an Airbnb that Jay visited on the Spanish island failed to attend.

The coroner adjourned the hearing so his staff could make further efforts to find Ayub Qassim, 31, and Steven Roccas.

Stick with us for live updates throughout the day with James Tozer reporting from Preston Coroner’s Court and Jamie Bullen in London.