AN UNSEEN photo shows Jay Slater grinning in the back seat of the car he was driven to a remote Airbnb in just hours before his death.
A coroner today concluded that Jay, 19, died accidentally after falling from height in the remote mountains of northern Tenerife.
A photo shows Jay smiling in the backseat of a car just hours before his death
Tim StewartJay’s body was found last July, 29 days after he disappeared[/caption]
After a night of partying in Playa de las Americas and taking drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, Jay went to an Airbnb an hour’s drive away in Masca.
Jay was driven there by convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, who yesterday gave evidence via videolink at his inquest.
A photo was shown to Preston Coroner’s Court of Jay beaming in the backseat of the car, sat behind Steven Roccas who was asleep in the front.
Roccas was called up to give evidence at the inquest, but efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.
A previous inquest hearing in May was adjourned after Jay’s devastated mum Debbie Duncan pleaded with the coroner to track down key witnesses such as Roccas and Qassim, who the teen met on holiday.
Qassim attended yesterday’s hearing remotely, and said he and Jay had found the way Roccas was asleep amusing, hence the image was taken.
It is believed to be the last photo that was taken of Jay in the early hours of June 17, 2024 – just hours before he fell to his death.
Qassim said Jay ‘”asked if he could come with us” back to the Airbnb, despite telling him how far away it was.
He believed Jay wanted to go back with him and Roccas as he thought they would be staying up drinking.
When they arrived at the Airbnb, Roccas was asleep and after bring woken up by Qassim went straight to bed.
Qassim told the hearing that Jay asked for a charger, and that he left him downstairs with a blanket, towel and cigarettes before heading to bed himself.
Less than an hour later, he said he was woken up by the sound of the door being buzzed by three people, who asked him to move his car.
After moving his car, Qassim said Jay was walking out of the Airbnb and told him he was going to catch a bus back to his apartment.
Qassim said he warned Jay there weren’t regular buses in the area, and offered to drop him back later in the day.
But Jay said he wanted to go as his friends were waiting for him, so Qassim returned to bed.
Asked by the coroner whether Jay would still under the influence of drink and drugs when he moved his car, Qassim said he thinks he would have been.
Qassim also insisted there was no “altercation” between them.
He said: “I looked at him and I seen he was sweet, so it’s like, sound innit. What could I have done? I’m not gonna say ‘stay here now’.
“I just said ‘if you need me I’m here’. I shut the door to go back upstairs to sleep.”
Ayub Qassim, who Jay went back to the Airbnb with, gave evidence via videolink yesterday
CHRIS NEILLJay Slater’s mum Debbie Duncan arriving at court today[/caption]
InstagramJay’s pal Lucy Law spoke to him on the phone before he fell to his death[/caption]
SnapchatJay shared a Snapchat video showing him smoking outside the Airbnb on the morning of his death[/caption]
The hearing also heard from the two friends Jay went on holiday with – Lucy Law and Bradley Geoghegan.
Jay, best friend Lucy and other mates had gone to the NRG rave music festival in June last year.
Giving evidence for the first time, Lucy said she and Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancs, had partied at various night spots in Playa de
las Americas.
At one point he disappeared before she caught up with him in another bar.
She said: “He just found the situation funny.”
Asked about his state Lucy, giving evidence on an audiolink, said: “He was definitely on a buzz — I’d say he’d have definitely taken something.”
An earlier hearing at Preston coroner’s court had heard he had used drugs including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.
Lucy and friend Brandon Hodgson decided to call it a night.
Unknown to them, Jay then decided to leave with two men in a car at 5am or 6am.
She was woken at 8.30am by a phone call from another friend, Bradley, saying Jay had told him in a video call he was “in the middle of nowhere”.
Jay had started what he feared would be a 14-hour walk back.
Records showed Lucy rang Jay at 8.52am. She said he told her
he was in the mountains and needed a drink.
The spot where the teenager tragically fell to his death
PAThe Airbnb in Masca Jay went to before his death[/caption]
He asked whether cacti were poisonous.
She told him to go back to where he had come from, but he said: “I can’t go back there.”
Bradley said Jay had seemed still “under the influence”.
Coroner Dr James Adeley asked: “Did you get the impression he was in any way threatened or fearful, or under duress
in a difficult situation?”
Bradley replied: “No. I think he probably got there and thought, ‘Why am I here?’, sobered up and decided to come back.”
Concluding Jay’s inquest today, Dr Adeley determined the teenager’s death was accidental after a fall from height.
The coroner said: “Whilst attempting to descend the ravine Jay fell in a difficult area.
“Jay Slater fell approximately 20 to 25 metres resulting in skull fracture and brain trauma from which he would have died instantly.
“There was no third party involved. Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death.”
Dr Adeley said Jay’s death would likely have been instantaneous.
He added: “I hope it is of some consolation to the family that Jay would have been unaware of the situation after his fall and would not have been in any pain.”
Liver samples analysed in the UK showed Jay had taken ecstasy and cocaine and drunk alcohol in the day or so before his death.
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