Lancashire teen Jay Slater's cause of death confirmed after inquest hears final moments
Lancashire teenager Jay Slater, who went missing in Tenerife last summer, died accidentally after falling down a ravine, a coroner at his inquest has concluded.
The 19-year-old told friends he was “in the middle of the mountains” and needed a drink as he attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out, Preston Coroner’s Court heard.
Mr Slater, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was on holiday in Tenerife and had attended the NRG music festival at the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de las Americas on June 16 last year.
He disappeared the next morning after going with two men to an Airbnb in Masca, a mountain village miles from his holiday apartment in Los Cristianos.
A large-scale search began after he was reported missing on June 18, and his body was found nearly a month later by a mountain rescue team in the steep, remote Juan Lopez ravine on July 15.
The inquest heard that his phone battery had died, and although he needed a drink, he had no water when he set off on the 14-hour walk home in the early morning.
As temperatures rose, he left the road and ended up in the ravine, where he suffered severe head injuries from a fall.
Concluding the two-day inquest, Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, said: “Jay fell at a particularly dangerous area in difficult terrain.
“He fell approximately 20 to 25 metres, suffering skull fractures and brain trauma from which he would have died instantaneously. Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death.
“This is a tragic death of a young man.”
Dr Adeley confirmed there was no third party involved and no evidence Mr Slater had been threatened, assaulted, or was in fear for his safety.
Addressing the family, the coroner said he hoped the “examination of facts rather than conjecture” during the hearing provided some consolation.
Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, gave a tearful tribute at the hearing on Friday: “He was very loved and our hearts are broken. Our lives will never be the same without Jay in it.”
The inquest also heard from friends and the last people to speak with Mr Slater on the morning he disappeared.
Bradley Geoghegan, holidaying with Mr Slater, said his friend had taken ecstasy, possibly ketamine, along with cocaine and alcohol the night before.
The next morning, Mr Geoghegan received a video call from Mr Slater who was walking along a road and still “under the influence.”
He 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.’”
When asked if Mr Slater seemed threatened or fearful, Mr Geoghegan replied: “No. I think he probably got there and thought, ‘Why am I here?’, sobered up and decided to come back.”
Another friend, Lucy Law, called Mr Slater around 8.30am and sent a message saying: “Go back to wherever the f*** you just came from before it gets boiling.”
On the call, she asked: “What on earth are you doing? Where are you?”
He replied: “I’m in the middle of the mountains.”
When asked what he could see, he said: “Nothing. Literally nothing. There’s literally just mountains.”
Mr Slater also said he needed a drink and asked if cacti are poisonous.
Ms Law said: “By this stage, I’m panicking.”
Another friend, Brandon Hodgson, told Spanish police that Mr Slater contacted him on a video call around 8.30am, showing him surrounded by mountains, with his phone battery at 3%.
Mr Hodgson said Mr Slater was “laughing and joking” and appeared “out of his mind.”
He described Jay as “mentally very child-like” and called Ms Law to help “solve the problem.”
Excerpts from Spanish authorities and local Mountain Rescue services were read by the coroner.
The search lasted 29 days and involved helicopters, dogs, drones and rescue teams.
On July 15, rescuers searched the treacherous Juan Lopez ravine where Mr Slater’s body was found, an area with sheer cliffs, dense undergrowth and no water.
The area is rarely used and requires machetes to cut through thick vegetation.
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About 20 metres above the body, rescuers found Mr Slater’s Armani bag containing his phone and nitrous oxide canisters.
Spanish authorities could not explain why Mr Slater left the road to descend the ravine, especially as he was unfamiliar with the area and his phone had died.
However, they suggested he may have believed he could reach the sea and get help.
The report said: “It would be easy to slip on the rocks and fall into the void. The death of the missing person must have occurred as a result of an accidental fall.”
Earlier, Ayub Qassim told the inquest Mr Slater asked to return to the Airbnb he shared with him and Stephen Roccas.
He described Mr Slater as “on a buzz, chilled, happy, mingling.”
Mr Qassim said he went to bed while Mr Slater was still downstairs, but was later woken to move his car.
When he returned, Mr Slater was leaving and said he was going to catch a bus.
Mr Qassim warned him: “Bro, there ain’t no buses coming here any time soon.”
Despite this, Mr Slater left. Mr Qassim assumed he would wait at the bus stop until a bus came.
Mr Slater’s mother, Debbie Duncan, had requested the inquest resume after witnesses failed to appear at a previous hearing in May.
Efforts to contact Mr Roccas and Brandon Hodgson were unsuccessful.
The May hearing included toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin, who confirmed traces of cocaine, ketamine, ecstasy, and alcohol were found in Mr Slater’s body.
Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd gave the cause of death as head injuries consistent with a fall from height and found no evidence of assault or restraint.
Marieke Krans from Dutch rescue charity Signi Zoekhonden, which helped with the search, described the area as a “really steep, really dangerous” three-and-a-half-hour walk from the Airbnb, where it was “easy” to lose footing.