A convicted drug dealer who spent the final hours with Jay Slater has appeared to give evidence at the inquest into the teen’s death.
Ayub Qassim, 31, who will speak via video link at Preston Coroner’s Court, is understood to have taken Mr Slater back to their Airbnb with fellow Briton, Steven Roccas, hours before he vanished.
Giving evidence earlier this morning, his friend Bradley Hargreaves said that he did not believe Mr Slater ‘was under duress’ when he left the AirBnB that morning, although added that he was still under the influence of drugs.
A huge search operation was launched after the 19-year-old from Lancashire became vanished after attending an all-night rave last June.
After weeks of social media speculation about how the apprentice bricklayer ended up in the mountains, his body was tragically found in a ravine.
A pathologist said injuries including severe skull and pelvis fractures were consistent from falling from a height – but could not rule out the possibility that Jay had been pushed.
Debbie, Jay’s father Warren and his elder brother Zak, 25 – who all spent weeks in Tenerife in a desperate search for the teenager – all turned up this morning to the inquest.
Debbie Duncan arrives at Preston Coroners Court ahead of the inquest into her son Jay Slater
Debbie Duncan. Slater’s body was found in a ravine on the island of Tenerife, Spain, in June 2024
Jay’s brother (right) arrives at Preston Coroners Court
Mr Slater went to an AirBnB cottage with drug dealer Ayub Qassim (pictured) and another man
Jay’s friend Bradley Hargreaves arrived at Preston Coroner’s Cour accompanied by his family members.
He was the first witness to give evidence, confirming he had travelled to Tenerife with Jay on June 13 for the NRG festival and that the pair were sharing an apartment.
He explained that Lucy Law had travelled with them but was staying in a different flat, while Brandon Hodgson – known as ‘Hodgy’ – was in a third.
‘We went to the apartment, put our things there and then went straight out,’ he said. ‘Then Brandon’s met, is it Ayub and Rocky… we met them and we were just drinking normally.’
He told the court that Mr Hodgson appeared to already know Mr Qassim and Mr Roccas, and that the group stayed out until around 5am.
Dr Adeley asked if it had been a ‘good vibe.’ Mr Geoghegan replied: ‘Everyone were happy.’
The following day, they attended the first day of the festival. ‘Drinking, dancing as you would at a festival,’ he said.
He added that they returned to the apartment at around 3.15am and were too drunk to change clothes. The next day they attended a pool party at a hotel before going back to Xanadu nightclub that evening.
When asked about Jay’s drinking and behaviour, he replied: ‘We might have took it a bit too far.’
On June 16, the day before Jay went missing, the group went to Sugareef before heading to Papagayo for the festival.
‘We were together all that evening. When we got to Papagayo everyone split up. We all kept bumping into each other again.’ He said he was later told by Brandon that Jay had been thrown out of the club.
‘I went to see him outside but they wouldn’t let him back in,’ he said, explaining that it was around 2am and Jay was ‘very drunk and couldn’t stand up.’
At around 4am, he and Jay went back to Sugar Reef. When asked what ‘state’ Jay was in, Mr Geoghegan replied: ‘He wasn’t as bad as when he was inside. He was still under the influence but we could still talk to each other, have a conversation.’
He estimated Jay’s drunkenness at ‘about six out of ten’ and confirmed they had both taken drugs.
‘Maybe Ecstasy pills, I don’t know,’ he said. Jay had taken ketamine earlier in the holiday, he added, and possibly cocaine, though he wasn’t sure about that night.
Asked about Jay’s ‘judgement’ in that state, Mr Geoghegan replied: ‘Giddy… both having a laugh with each other.’
‘When Lucy come out I went back in,’ he said. ‘I don’t know what time.’
Ms Law said in her statement that she came out of the club at about 3.24am before Jay and Mr Geoghegan went to Sugareef, the coroner said.
Mr Geoghegan said Mr Qassim and Mr Roccas never went to the festivals, saying: ‘They were just on the Strip every time we see them.’
He got a taxi back to the apartment at 5am or 6am.
At 5.30am Jay sent a Snapchat saying he would be sleeping at ‘Ayub Qassim’s and Rocky’s place’.
Earlier he sent a message ‘something about a watch’, Mr Geoghegan said.
Asked what the message said, he replied: ‘Took a watch… I can’t remember what it said.
‘There’s a lot of people selling fake stuff on the Strip, I didn’t think anything of it.’
Jay didn’t seem frightened or distressed at any stage, he said.
Asked about statements given to the Spanish authorities, Mr Geoghegan said he didn’t remember Jay saying he was sleeping over ‘at the black guys’ house’ or that they would bring him back at midday.
Asked about a comment that he said he would stay up until Jay got back, Mr Geoghegan said: ‘We were with them for 3 days, I would trust them as much as Jay. I wouldn’t think anything of it.’
After that they were ‘talking back and forth’ over Snapchat, with Jay showing him the bed where he was going to sleep at the AirBnb in La Masca.
‘I think it were on the settee, the sofa.’
Asked about his demeanour he said: ‘Then he goes I’m going to come back down. He might have been feeling a bit worried at that time. But I don’t know why.’
At 8.30am he said Jay contacted him saying he was walking down a road and was asking if there was any alcohol back at the apartment.
‘That’s the last time I spoke to Jay.’
Asked about his friend’s state at that point, he said: ‘He was a lot better than he were, but he was definitely still under the influence.’
Mr Geoghegan confirmed that taking cocaine made someone feel ‘more confident’, saying it gave users a ‘buzz’.
He agreed it could cause people to become ‘more impulsive’.
He said he told Jay to ‘put your maps on’ and his friend told him he was several hours walk away or an hour’s drive.
Mr Geoghegan – who said he was himself ‘under the influence’ at the time – said he asked Jay: ‘Why are you so far away?’
‘I said get a taxi back. He goes “I’ll ring you back”. They won’t let you in the taxi without you paying first.’
Mr Geoghegan said Jay didn’t say anything else about the watch.
He confirmed Josh Forshaw – who gave evidence in May and who met the group while they were in Tenerife – came to the apartment that morning.
But he didn’t hear anything about Jay arming himself with knives down his trousers, confirming that would be an ‘unusual’ thing for Jay to do.
Asked if Jay appeared ‘under duress’ or ‘threatened’ at any stage, Mr Geoghegan replied: ‘No.’
Questioned by the coroner why he thought Jay had left the AirBnb that morning he replied: ‘He wanted to come back to the apartment I was at to carry on drinking.
‘I think he’s probably got there and sobered up and decided to carry on drinking.
‘Jay’s probably sobered up and decided to come back down to where we were staying.’
The 20-year-old, who was swapping messages with Jay as he attempted to walk from the remote village of Masca back to their apartment – is among the friends who was abroad at the previous hearing.
The hearing in May was told that at 6.09am on the morning of June 17 last year Jay used his phone to share his location as being in the village with Mr Hargreaves, also known as Bradley Geoghegan.
That was followed by a seven second video an hour later showing a mountainous scene.
Later that morning Josh Forshaw – the only friend who gave evidence in May – overheard a Facetime call between Jay and Mr Hargreaves after going to their apartment.
‘He was slurring his words but he wasn’t begging for help or anything,’ he told the court. He didn’t sound like he was in danger.’
Mr Forshaw said Mr Hargreaves urged Jay to get a taxi back to where they were staying, but the teenager said he had no money.
Jay didn’t sound ‘distressed or angry’, he added.
Speaking about the video call – believed to be one of the last times anyone spoke to Jay – Mr Hargreaves later told ITV’s This Morning that his friend was walking along a gravel path.
Speaking of the events that night, he said: ‘What’s happened is that we have split up, but he has been with people that he already knew.
‘He’s ended up back with them and I don’t know how or what has gone on there but he’s gone off and rang me halfway to their house saying I’m staying here and I’ll be back the next day.
‘He’s rang me walking down the mountain and he just says he’s walking home.
‘At the time I didn’t think anything of it I just thought he was going to get a bus home or a taxi home because that’s what he says he is going to do.’
Mr Hargreaves stayed on in Tenerife assisting the search for Jay along with his mother Rachel.
After the tragic discovery of his body he posted an online tribute reading: ‘Nothing be the same without you. Rest easy brother. Love you always.’
The hearing in May heard that Mr Hargreaves had informed the coroner’s office that he would be abroad that week on a holiday booked last October.
Jay’s friend Bradley Hargreaves (above) has also arrived at Preston Coroner’s Court, accompanied by family members
The 20-year-old, who was swapping messages with Jay as he attempted to walk from the remote village of Masca back to their apartment – is among the friends who was abroad at the previous hearing
Jay’s family and many others laid the 19-year-old to rest at his funeral on August 10, and asked he be allowed to rest in peace without conspiracies spiralling about his death
Jay’s close friend Lucy Law – another of the witnesses who did not attend the previous hearing in May – is expected to give evidence remotely.
He had been on holiday in Tenerife with Ms Law, now 19, and Bradley Hargreaves.
Ms Law – who later attended Mr Slater’s funeral last August – received a call at 8.30am where Jay said he was lost, had 1 per cent charge on his phone and needed water.
After the friends became separated on the last night of the NRG festival, the previous hearing in May was told there were ‘repeated efforts’ by Ms Law – referred to on his phone as Lucy Mae – to contact him.
She messaged him saying he was ‘off your head’ and to go back to their apartment.
At 8.35am Ms Law sent him a message telling him to ‘get back to wherever the f*** you just came from’.
Ms Law spoke to reporters from the island as efforts to launch a search got underway.
After the tragic discovery of his body she posted a heartbreaking Instagram tribute, writing: ‘Always the happiest and most smiley person in the room, you was one of a kind Jay and you’ll be missed more than you know.
‘I’m sure you’ll ‘have your dancing shoes polished and ready’ waiting for us all.
‘We all love you buddy. Fly high.’
The previous hearing was told that while a witness summons was issued for Ms Law, it was not served as she was currently in Tenerife.
But afterwards Ms Law’s family told Mail Online that she was simply on holiday and was unaware that they wanted her to give evidence.
Speaking at the family home in Burnley back in May, stepfather Andy Davis said: ‘We had no idea Jay’s inquest was even being held today.
‘The police have only just been round today to say that she was due to give evidence. But it’s the first time we knew of it.
‘They asked if Lucy was home and I said she was abroad and they asked me if I was aware that she should have been in court, and I said I wasn’t.
‘The police said they had sent Lucy paperwork with the dates on it, but the first I knew about it was when the police turned up earlier today.’
Jay’s family were aware she was in Tenerife, with a source saying: ‘If we can find this out so quickly why can’t the police?’
Jay’s close friend Lucy Law (right) – another of the witnesses who did not attend the previous hearing in May – is expected to give evidence remotely
Jay Slater pictured before he went missing in Tenerife, seen with his mother Debbie Duncan
It also heard at the earlier hearing that shortly before disappearing on June 17, 2024, Jay had sent messages to friends saying he had stolen a high-end watch and was trying to sell it for £10,000.
Pleading for Mr Qassim and Mr Roccas to be brought to court, Ms Duncan told the coroner: ‘We want these people to be sat in front of us. Something went wrong that day, he didn’t come back. There’s questions we need to ask – please.’
Agreeing to adjourn proceedings, Dr Adeley warned the family he was ‘not confident of success’.
But he added: ‘However in view of your distress we will make an effort to find them.’
One friend of Jay who did give evidence back in May said he seemed to be ‘off his head on drugs’ the night before his disappearance.
Jay sent Josh Forshaw a Snapchat message saying he had ‘ended up getting thrown out of there me with 2 Maili kids just took an AP off some **** on way to sell it for 10 quid’.
Police found another message in which Jay wrote he had just taken a ’12k rolly’ and was ‘off to get 10 quid for it’.
Preston coroner’s court heard that ’10 quid’ was slang for £10,000, AP was a reference to high-end Audemars Piguet brand and ‘Rolly’ meant a Rolex.
Mr Forshaw claimed Jay sent him another image with mountains in the background showing two knives in his waistband, writing: ‘I’m carrying these in case it kicks off.’
He said he later overheard Jay videocalling Mr Hargreaves, saying: ‘He was slurring his words but he wasn’t begging for help or anything.
‘He didn’t sound like he was in danger.’
Jay’s friend urged him to get a taxi, but he replied that he had no money.
Jay, from Oswaldtwistle, disappeared while on a three-day holiday for a music festival
Spanish police have previously searched the Airbnb (pictured) where Jay was seen
After being told by villagers that the next bus was not until 10am, witnesses saw him walking down the main road.
Members of a Dutch team which searched for Jay said the ravine where his found was around a three-and-a-half hour walk away.
Initially the route was ‘pretty easy’ but later on became ‘really dangerous’.
Forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said the injuries caused by the fall would have caused ‘instantaneous’ loss of consciousness and Jay would have died soon afterwards.
He added that injuries seen in assault victims were ‘very different from the type of injuries I saw with Jay’.
Toxicologist Dr Stephanie Martin said analysis of tissue found traces of cocaine, Ecstasy, alcohol and ketamine.
But due to the length of time before Jay’s body was discovered she could not say if she had been under the influence of drugs when he fell to his death.
Analysis of Jay’s phone found messages from his friends asking where he was, with location data consistent with what witnesses told police.
Det Chf Insp Rachel Higson, head of Lancashire Police’s digital media investigation unit, told the hearing: ‘Having read all the messages there’s nothing at all to suggest Jay was frightened, that he was under any threat, that he was scared of anybody, that he was forced to do anything against his will.’
The detective said there was no other evidence about a stolen watch.
Mr Qassim has previously denied any involvement in Jay’s disappearance, saying the teenager had simply walked out of the holiday property saying: ‘Bro I’m going to get off.’
