Jay Slater Live as mum begs coroner to quiz Airbnb men – 'we want them in front of us'

"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."

"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."

"Just get a taxi here and then jump out and don't pay for it or we'll pay."

"Ended up getting thrown out with two Mali kids, just took an AP [expensive watch strap] off somebody and was on the way to sell it."

"There were changes due to the period of time he was lying in a hot environment - changes I would expect to see in that period of 28 days or thereabouts."

An inquest into the death of Jay Slater is being held in Lancashire today. The 19-year-old's body was found in a ravine in Rural Parc de Teno, in Tenerife, on July 15 last year.

The apprentice bricklayer from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared in June after attending the NRG music festival in Playa de las Americas, telling friends he was lost, thirsty and only

had 1% battery left on his phone.

His body was found four weeks later in an inaccessible ravine close to where his mobile last pinged.

The teen had travelled to an Airbnb in the remote Masca village in north-west Tenerife in the early hours of June 17, following an NRG event.

He then left the property intending to walk to the apartment his friends were staying in at Los Cristianos.

The month-long search for Jay sparked major media attention from the UK as well as many conspiracy theories.

He was eventually found in the Juan Lopez ravine, north of Masca, close to where his phone last pinged.

A post-mortem examination concluded he died of traumatic head injuries, consistent with a fall from height.

As Jay's body was returned to Lancashire for his funeral, Lancashire's Senior Coroner Dr James Adeley opened an inquest which is taking place today (May 21).

The inquest will close for the day now, to resume at a date to be confirmed.

This means Jay Slater's family are still without answers, almost 10 months after his death in Tenerife.

The grieving mother of tragic Jay Slater has begged the coroner to bring the men whose Airbnb her son went to hours before he went missing in Tenerife to his inquest.

Jay Slater sent a message to pals saying "they've got a marker on me" after appearing to confess to stealing a £12k Rolex watch.

"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."

The coroner has adjourned the inquest and indicated it will likely resume "in a couple of months".

"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."

The coroner has called a short break. Potentially, this could mean that the inquest is adjourned to allow for further attempts to locate the two men.

Jay's mum Debbie told the coroner: "I know you tried to locate them but how can we ever get any understanding? We know he died, we know he had an accident, but from him leaving that holiday

resort to going up there...?"We read the statements. There are things that 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 coroner's office has already gone to significant lengths to locate the two men, including asking the Metropolitan Police to serve witness summons on them, but their efforts have so far

been unsuccessful.

The inquest has already heard that the two men, whose Airbnb Jay had gone back to after the music festival, Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas, cannot be located.

However, when Jay's mum Debbie was asked if she was content for their initial statements to be read into evidence, she pleaded with the coroner to bring "these people in front of us".

The Dutch rescue team volunteers have said "there would be no reason" why anyone would follow the route which Jay walked "unless you were on your way to the sea".

They added Jay "must have walked there himself because you can't carry someone down there". When asked by the coroner why someone couldn't be carried they said: "This would be impossible."

The Dutch search and rescue volunteers said they "can imagine how Jay thought he was going to make it" from the Airbnb back to the coast.

They said that it would probably take around three and-a-half hours to walk from where Jay was last seen to where he was found.

The Dutch rescue team which assisted with the search for Jay used search dogs which had been given clothes worn by Jay, from his mum, in order to track his scent.

The route Jay took was initially "pretty easy" but the location where his body was found is "really steep, really dangerous," they said.

The inquest has heard more on witness Josh Forshaw's claim that Jay's reference to "10 quid" actually meant £10,000.

Before lunch Josh had been asked by the coroner to provide evidence this is a commonly-used slang term. Josh responded to the request earlier today, asking the coroner: "Are you serious?"

Speaking this afternoon he said: "It's used in my area but I can't show that is what Jay intended. It was my interpretation."

DCI Rachel Higson has also been asked if she is aware of the term. She said: "It's not something I've heard of prior but I've consulted with colleagues and certainly in the east of the

county, like Blackburn, it is a commonly-known term."

An inquest into the death of Jay Slater has heard that the British teen reportedly stole a Rolex watch worth around £12,000, which was revealed in a text message.

DCI Rachel Higson, head of digital media investigations at Lancashire Police, examined Jay's phone.

She said that there was "no data recorded" after 8.49:51 on June 17. Between 7.59am and 8.49am, Jay's iPhone recorded "a lot of steps and inclines".

At 2.39am on the morning Jay disappeared he sent a message to a friend in which he said: "They've got a marker on me."

The friend replied: "You need to get home lad, you're off your barnet."

Between 5.03am and 5.52am on the morning Jay went missing a message was sent from his phone saying: "Just took a £12k Rolly off some **** off to get 10 quid for it now."

On the evening of June 16 last year, the night before Jay disappeared, his bank account provider declined two debit card payments. One, at 9.10pm, was for €320, and the second, just one

minute later, was for €160.

The court has heard witness statements from three Spaniards who saw Jay in the hours before he disappeared.

At around 7.50am two friends, who were working on a construction project in the village of Masca, saw Jay on the main road.

Jay Slater was "off his head on drugs" and asked a festival-goer to break an MDMA pill in half, according to a witness in the 19-year-old's inquest.

Josh Forshaw, who has appeared via videolink, has now finished giving evidence.

He concludes his evidence by saying: "I hope that everybody is all right."

The coroner has asked Josh to provide some evidence on social media to show that "10 quid" is slang for £10,000.

The coroner replies: "I am absolutely serious. I want proof from somewhere that it is a common usage that that is £10,000."

The court hears that Jay sent the picture of knives down his trousers to Josh around 90 minutes before that phone call to Brad.

In this phone call Jay 'still sounded under the influence' but was not distressed or 'begging for help or in danger', Josh told the inquest.

At around 7.30am on the day Jay disappeared he video called his friend Brad Hargreaves.

The court hears Jay told Brad Hargreaves he didn't have the money for a taxi, to which Bradley said:

"Just get a taxi here and then jump out and don't pay for it or we'll pay."

Josh says the picture Jay sent him of two knives down his trousers, was captioned 'in case it kicks off'.

After Josh returned home to the UK he informed Lancashire Police about the image Jay sent him in which he apparantly had knives concealed in his trousers.

The witness, Josh Forshaw, resumes his evidence and says Jay told him he would sell the watch strap for '10 quid' - which he claims is slang for £10,000, not £10.

Josh also tells the inquest that Jay sent him a picture showing 'knives down his trousers'.

Last year, Jay's mum Debbie spoke out about the watch claims saying: "I’ve no idea where these drug stories have come from and the stuff about him stealing a watch is nonsense. The people

saying stuff about him didn’t know Jay and they don’t know us."