Teenager Jay Slater died by accident after falling down a ravine in Tenerife, a coroner at his inquest has concluded. The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had told friends he was "in the middle of the mountains" and in need of a drink as he attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out.
Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, said Slater 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.
Coroner rules accidental death
"Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death. This is a tragic death of a young man," Dr Adeley told Preston Coroner's Court on Friday. The coroner said the evidence showed there was no one else involved in the death and no evidence to suggest Slater had been threatened, assaulted, was under duress or in fear for his safety.
Dr Adeley told Slater's family that he hoped the "examination of facts rather than conjecture" during the hearing had been some consolation to them. Slater's tearful mother, Debbie Duncan, had earlier paid tribute to her son at the hearing, saying: "He was very loved and our hearts are broken. Our lives will never be the same without Jay in it."
Holiday night out before disappearance
Slater had been holidaying on the Spanish island and had gone to the NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas on 16 June last year. But he vanished the next morning after going with two men to an Airbnb in Masca, a village in the mountains miles from his holiday apartment in Los Cristianos.
Friend Bradley Geoghegan told the inquest that Slater had taken ecstasy pills, possibly ketamine, cocaine and alcohol during the night out. The next morning, Geoghegan said he received a video call from Slater, who was walking along a road and was still "under the influence".
Friends' desperate attempts to help
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'." When asked by the coroner if Slater seemed threatened or fearful, 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 Slater around 8.30am after sending him a message saying: "Go back to wherever the f*** you just came from before it gets boiling." She said she asked him what he could see, and he replied: "Nothing. Literally nothing. There's literally just mountains." Slater also said he needed a drink and asked if cactus are poisonous.
Final contact with friends
Brandon Hodgson, in a statement to Spanish police, said Slater contacted him on a video call around 8.30am showing him surrounded by mountains, with his phone battery down to three per cent. Hodgson said his friend was "laughing and joking" and got the impression he was "out of his mind".
Ayub Qassim, who was staying at the Airbnb with friend Stephen Roccas, described Slater as "on a buzz. Chilled, happy. Mingling." He said when Slater left the apartment, he told him he was going to catch a bus, but Qassim warned him: "Bro, there ain't no buses coming here any time soon."
Body found after month-long search
A huge search was launched after Slater was reported missing on 18 June, involving helicopters, dogs, drones and rescue teams. His body was found by local mountain rescue teams on 15 July in the steep and inaccessible Juan Lopez ravine after a 29-day search.
Around 20 metres above where Slater's body was discovered, his Armani bag was found with his phone and nitrous oxide gas canisters inside. The area was described as having sheer cliffs and deep dense undergrowth, accessible only by using machetes to cut through vegetation.
Dangerous terrain led to fatal fall
Spanish authorities said they could not explain why Slater "took a chance" to leave the road to descend down the ravine when he was unfamiliar with the area and his phone battery had died. However, the sea can be seen from the head of the ravine, and authorities suggested he may have believed he could reach a beach and get help.
Their 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." Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said his post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as head injuries, and Slater's body showed no evidence of restraint or assault.
Inquest provides closure for family
The inquest heard analysis showed traces of drugs, including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy, along with alcohol, were found in Slater's body. Marieke Krans, from Dutch rescue charity Signi Zoekhonden which helped in the search, said the area where the body was found was about a three-and-a-half-hour walk from the Airbnb and was "really steep, really dangerous".
Slater's mother, Debbie Duncan, had asked for the inquest to be resumed after a number of witnesses failed to give evidence at the last hearing in May. She said Slater's family still had questions about their loved one's death that needed answers.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
