What we learned from jay slater inquest – missing mates, drugs and stolen rolex

What we learned from jay slater inquest – missing mates, drugs and stolen rolex

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THE INQUEST INTO THE DEATH OF JAY SLATER WAS SUDDELY ADJOURNED AS A CORONER EXAMINED THE DEATH OF THE 19-YEAR-OLD WHO WENT MISSING IN TENERIFE IN JUNE LAST YEAR 21:53, 21 May 2025Updated


21:58, 21 May 2025 An inquest into the death of Jay Slater was suddenly adjourned as his mum begged the coroner to try and track down a number of key figures. The apprentice bricklayer from


Oswaldtwistle, Lancs., disappeared during a holiday in Tenerife. He had been to the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas before travelling to an Airbnb in the northwest of the island.


He then left that property in the early hours of June 17 last year intending to walk back to an apartment in Los Cristianos but instead called a friend to say he was lost, thirsty and only


had 1% battery left on his phone. That was the last time he was heard from. His disappearance sparked a major manhunt on the Spanish island and a media frenzy in the UK coupled with numerous


conspiracy theories. His body was eventually found at the bottom of a ‘dangerous’ ravine a month after his disappearance on July 15. Article continues below The inquest, at Preston Coroners


Court, was eventually adjourned so the coroner could attempt to find two men, Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, who were staying at the Airbnb Jay travelled back to. The court had also been


unable to find Jay's two friends. This is what emerged during Jay's inquest. FRIENDS CAN’T BE FOUND Jay’s friends who were with him in Tenerife, Lucy Law and Brad Hargreaves,


‘cannot be located’, the coroner said. Coroner Dr James Adeley told Preston Coroners’ Court: “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." Lucy is believed to be in Tenerife and Brad is also believed to be on a holiday which was booked last October. The court heard Lucy was the last person to


speak to Jay before he disappeared. Last year, she paid tribute to him on Instagram, calling him “one of a kind”. The court heard that around 7:30am on the day Jay disappeared, he video


called Brad and told him he didn’t have the money for a taxi. Brad told him to just ‘get a taxi here’ and he could either jump out and not pay for it or they would pay for it. The coroner


has also been trying to locate Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas who were staying at the Airbnb Jay travelled to after the NRG Festival; however, they have proved equally as elusive. Jay’s mum,


Debbie Duncan, pleaded with the coroner to try to find the two men so they could get an understanding of what happened to Jay that night. The coroner adjourned the inquest to try to find


them again. STOLEN ROLEX The inquest heard claims that Jay had stolen a Rolex watch worth £12,000 before his disappearance. Between 5.03am and 5.52am on the morning Jay went missing, a


message was sent from his phone saying: "Just took a £12k Rolly off some **** off to get 10 quid for it now." Jay also sent a message to Josh Forshaw, who had met Jay and his


friends as they queued to board the plane from Manchester to Tenerife. Josh shared contact details with Jay and met the group at the music festival. In the message to Josh, Jay said: “Ended


up getting thrown out with two Mali kids, just took an AP [expensive watch strap] off somebody and was on the way to sell it.” Josh Forshaw gave evidence via video link and told the court


that 10 quid is slang for £10,000. Last year, after Jay went missing, his mum Debbie spoke out about the watch claims and said: “I’ve no idea where these drug stories have come from and the


stuff about him stealing a watch is nonsense. The people saying stuff about him didn’t know Jay and they don’t know us." COCKTAIL OF DRUGS There were two toxicology reports completed


after Jay’s body was found, which detected a number of drugs in his system. Toxicologist Dr Stephanie Martin told the inquest that, although tests when someone who has been dead for some


time are "extremely challenging", she determined that Jay had ecstasy in his system at the time of his death. Also present in his system was a cocaine metabolite, which is present


when cocaine is taken at the same time as the consumption of alcohol. At the time his body was found, the Spanish authorities also carried out their own toxicology tests, when ketamine was


found in Jay's system. Dr Martin added: _"_ The only difference between our results and their results is that they found ketamine and its metabolites." The doctor said that


one "possible explanation" for why the Spanish authorities found ketamine in Jay's system but toxicology tests carried out in the UK did not is "the time between the two


post mortem investigations". Article continues below Josh told the inquest that Jay seemed “dead happy” and he was “off his head on drugs”. He told the coroners’ court that Jay had


asked him to break an MDMA pill in half for him and Brad. _FOR THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS AND STORIES FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE FROM THE DAILY STAR, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER BY CLICKING_ HERE.