The death of teenager Jay Slater has been ruled as “accidental” after an inquest.
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared on 17 June 2024 on the Spanish island of Tenerife after attending the NRG music festival.
He was reported missing and, after an extensive search and rescue mission and significant media attention, his body was found a month later on 15 July.
Jay Slater’s inquest as it happened
An inquest into the teenager’s death took place on 24 and 25 July at Preston Coroner’s Court, after first being adjourned in May.
Dr James Adeley, a senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, concluded that Mr Slater died “an accidental death”. He said he fell while trying to descend a ravine, which resulted in fatal skull trauma.
Here is everything we learned from the inquests in May and July which heard from experts, friends who were on holiday with Mr Slater and a testimony from his mother Debbie Duncan.
Why happened during the inquest in May?
The first inquest heard from Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, who said Mr Slater’s injuries were “entirely consistent” with a fall from a great height and gave an official cause of death as a head injury.
He said there was no suggestion that the teenager had been assaulted or restrained.
Toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin said traces of MDMA and MDA, commonly known as ecstasy, along with cocaine and alcohol, were also found in Mr Slater’s body.
Dr James Adeley decided to adjourn the inquest to July after a number of witnesses who had been asked to give evidence could not be traced or were unable to attend.
Mr Slater’s mother Ms Duncan told the court in May that she wanted “these people to be sat in front of us, because our son went on holiday and didn’t come back, so there’s questions we need to ask”.
Slater took a mixture of drugs and alcohol
Bradley Geoghegan and Lucy Law, who were with Mr Slater on holiday, gave evidence to the court when it resumed in July.
Mr Geoghegan told the court the trio landed in Tenerife on 13 June last year and met up with their friend, Brandon Hodgson.
While they were out that night, the group met Ayoub Qassim and Stephen Roccus, who were staying at the Airbnb Mr Slater travelled to in the village of Masca, before his disappearance.
On the night of 16 June, the day before Mr Slater disappeared, Mr Geoghegan said he had taken ecstasy pills and possibly ketamine, along with cocaine and alcohol.
Mr Slater ‘on the buzz’ and ‘happy’ before disappearance
Appearing at the inquest via video link, Mr Qassim, who Mr Slater stayed with before he disappeared, described the teenager as “on the buzz” in the early hours of 17 June, the day he went missing.
At roughly 5am, after a night of partying, Mr Qassim was with Mr Slater and other friends going between a club and a food spot.
“Jay was on the buzz, head bopping, chill, happy, mingling innit,” he told the coroner.
Asked if he would have trusted Mr Slater to drive a car in his state then, Mr Qassim said “nah”.
Mr Qassim said Mr Slater had asked to come back to the Masca Airbnb where he and his friend Mr Roccas were staying as everyone else had left.
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.
Me Qassim 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.
“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.”
‘I told him to chill… now he’s gone missing’
When questioned by family barrister Lois Norris, if he can remember any calls he received on the day Mr Slater disappeared, Mr Qassaim said he only vividly remembers being told he had gone missing.
Pointing out he’d only slept for one hour – and that he had suggested to Mr Slater that he should stay at their place, rather than take a bus – Mr Qassim said: “I’m sort of annoyed, thinking ‘f****** hell I need some sleep.
“I said: ‘Bro, I told him to chill, and now you’re telling me he’s gone missing’.”
Slater called friends before his phone died
Having left the Airbnb, it is believed Mr Slater attempted to make the 14-hour walk back to the main Veronicas Strip. During this walk, coroner Dr Adeley said the teenager called Brandon Hodgson “laughing and joking”.
Moments later, he called Mr Geoghegan on Snapchat, during which he told Mr Slater to get a taxi.
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’.”
Mr Slater then called Ms Law saying he didn’t know where he was with mountains “all around”.
He said he needed a drink and was “frightened” but said he could not go back to the Airbnb, without expanding on why.
Ms Law told the court: “By this stage, I’m panicking.”
Lack of sleep, training, water and poor judgement
Excerpts of information from the Spanish authorities were read out in court by Dr Adeley, including from the local Mountain Rescue services.
It said on the 29th day of the search for Mr Slater, they took to the treacherous Juan Lopez Ravine, where his body was later found.
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Dr Adeley explained that the teenager’s body was found eight metres above a dry stream bed, with mountain rescue crews estimating he fell between 20 and 25 metres.
“It was acknowledged the area was mountainous with inaccessible areas,” Dr Adeley said in court.
The coroner says that there was “very rough terrain” at the point where the fall occurred.
He adds that factors contributing to Slater’s fall were a lack of training, poor judgement, a lack of sleep and a lack of water.
‘Our lives will never be the same’
Speaking at the inquest, Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, said the lives of their family will “never be the same without Jay in it”.
“Not in a million years could we predict what was going to unfold,” she said.
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“He was learning to drive and had so many plans and a bright future ahead of him.”
He “touched the hearts of the nation”, Ms Duncan continued, asking that he be allowed to “rest in eternal peace”.
