Debbie Duncan, the mother of Jay Slater, has broken down in tears in a new documentary where she retraces the tragic teenager's final steps before his fall to his death in Tenerife. The 57-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, returned to the island two years after the 19-year-old's passing to seek an answer to one heartbreaking question: “Did he suffer?”
Haunted by images
In Channel 5's Cause Of Death, Debbie revealed she was haunted by pictures Spanish police accidentally showed her of her son's body when they returned his phone to her. Speaking about the device, she said: “It’s strange really. Even after two years people still try his phone. But I don’t look for that reason. I’m looking because, you know, there’s a lot of memories on there.”
She then showed the camera a video from the phone and said: “That’s one he has took at work. Dusty old job. Filthy. He had been doing it for almost three years, his bricklaying apprenticeship. I were really proud of him. And he was proud of himself.”
“When we got his phone back it was like… just seeing it for yourself in black and white. There’s videos on there from the festival on the Friday night, the Saturday pool party.”
Retracing final steps
While many of the pictures and videos on Jay's phone now bring her comfort, Debbie remains traumatised by images of her son's body. She told the documentary: “I did think about it (viewing the body) and thought, I don’t think I can. But then, when we had to go back to Tenerife to get paperwork from the courts and to collect his phone, to my horror there were images of Jay. I thought my heart was going to stop beating. Whenever people say, ‘How did you know it was Jay?’ Well, it was Jay. My beautiful boy.”
Jay plunged to his death on June 17, 2024, and was found 29 days later on July 15 in the remote hills of northern Tenerife. Debbie recently returned to Rural de Teno national park with Jay's uncle, Glen Duncan, to retrace his final steps.
Medical evidence
Channel 5 filmed the scenes after the Spanish post-mortem report was published, which confirmed his accidental fall into the 82ft-deep ravine. Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, who conducted the Home Office Post Mortem, talked Debbie through the medical evidence surrounding his death.
Speaking to The Sun, Dr Shepherd said: “But neither post-mortem showed anything to suggest he was anything other than a fit and healthy young lad who became confused and disorientated and had a really tragic fall. Debbie was worried about how dehydrated he was, how confused he was, and why. He had taken a couple of drugs and drunk alcohol, but his alcohol level was not high. As the sun came up, it would have got hot very quickly, and you can understand how confusion would have set in.”
In answer to the mum's question, he revealed that the head injury was so severe that his death would have been immediate, with no pain or suffering.
A tragic end
Jay, whose death led to conspiracy theories, had been enjoying his first holiday without his parents when he lost his life. His final hours included getting into a car with two men he met on the trip before they drove to the village of Masca, 20 miles away from the NRG music festival and Papagayo nightclub in Playa de Las Americas.
After leaving the property, Jay called his friend Lucy Law to say he was lost in the mountains. He also told his other pal, Bradley Geoghegan, he was walking home after missing a bus. Jay never made it back, and his death was ruled an accident after he fell into a ravine. At the end of the documentary, Debbie broke down in tears, concluding: “I know that he would be so sorry for the mistakes he made. He would be saying, ‘I’m so sorry mum.’”
Cause Of Death airs on Channel 5 from 9pm tonight (September 30).
