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JAY'S FAMILY WANT TWO KEY WITNESSES BROUGHT TO COURT 20:07, 21 May 2025 The inquest into the death of Jay Slater was dramatically halted today. A coroner adjourned the hearing so that

further attempts could be made to track down two key witnesses after Jay's mum pleaded with him to bring 'these people in front of us.' Jay, 19, disappeared in Tenerife after

flying to the Spanish island for the NRG music festival on June 16 last year with pals Brad Geoghegan and Lucy Law. Jay stayed out afterwards while Lucy and Brad returned to their hotel. In

the hours that followed, Jay sent a number of concerning texts and Snapchat messages to his friends including one which included a picture of two knives concealed down his shorts with the

caption 'in case it kicks off.' In another message he claimed to have 'taken' a watch from 'two Mali kids' and was on his way to sell it for £10,000, Lancs Live

reports. Article continues below Lucy and Brad both urged Jay to return to the hotel, but he ended up travelling to an Airbnb in the village of Masca which had been rented out by Ayub

Qassim and Steven Roccas. At around 7.55am on June 17 Jay left the Airbnb, and was last seen walking along the main road after asking locals about bus times. Jay was reported missing after

he failed to arrive at his hotel and, around four weeks later, his body was found in a mountainous ravine which is a three and-a-half hour walk from Masca. The inquest, which started today

at Preston Coroner's Court, heard Jay had suffered a severe brain injury, which he would have been unlikely to survive even with specialist medical treatment. The inquest heard several

witnesses were not able to give evidence, including Jay's friend Lucy, who is believed to be in Tenerife, and Brad, who had informed the coroner's office that he would be on

holiday which he had booked last October. And the two men who had been the last to see Jay, Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, "could not be located" despite extensive efforts to find

them, the inquest heard. Coroner's officer Alice Swarbrick said: "We tried to contact them using the mobile numbers provided by Tenerife police. Their email addresses I contacted.

"I sent them text messages. I arranged for witness summons to be served on all the witnesses. I emailed the Metropolitan Police and asked for summons to be served, and it came back as

negative that they were living at those addresses." While both Mr Qassim, from London, and Mr Roccas, who has links to Oldham and London, provided initial accounts to police in Spain,

their current whereabouts are unknown. Lancashire's Senior Coroner, Dr James Adeley, asked Jay's parents if they would be content for him to rely on the contents of the statements.

Mum Debbie cried as she said: "I know you tried to locate them but how can we ever get any understanding? We know he died, he had an accident, but from him leaving that holiday resort

to going up there? "We read the statements. There are things we want to question. We want these people in front of us. My son went on holiday and didn't come back so there are

questions we need to ask. Please." The inquest heard from search and rescue volunteer Marieke Krans that it would have been "impossible" for anyone to have carried Jay to the

location where he was found. Although this evidence provided some clarity as to how Jay came by his death, Dr Adeley decided to adjourn the inquest to allow for further attempts to locate Mr

Qassim and Mr Roccas. The coroner said: "The question in any inquest is that of how somebody comes by their death. The difficulty is in the interpretation. We could simply deal with

Jay's death by the fact that he has walked into the middle of nowhere and fallen off a cliff. "However, you wish to speak to the witnesses, who last saw him. You have heard of the

difficulties we have had trying to find these two witnesses. In view of your distress and your need for answers, we will make an attempt to find them again using whatever means we can.

"I am not confident of success, but I will do what I can." A witness can be compelled to give evidence at an inquest if they have been served with a summons. However, as police

have so far been unable to find Mr Qassim or Mr Roccas, and therefore have not been able to serve a summons, an arrest warrant cannot, as yet, be issued. The inquest heard that the

coroner's office had spoken to who they believed to be Mr Roccas on the phone - although the person who answered the phone had denied being him. Article continues below If a police

officer has a reasonable belief that an individual is that named on a witness summons they can still serve it and, in those circumstances, if they fail to attend court then a warrant for

their arrest can be issued. If police are unable to serve a witness summons they can take steps to locate an individual by other means, such as via family members or known associates. The

coroner has indicated that the inquest into Jay's death will likely resume "in a month or two" once further steps have been taken to locate the two men.