Debbie Duncan, the mother of Jay Slater, has spoken out about the relentless online abuse she and her family have suffered following the 19-year-old's disappearance and death in Tenerife. Jay went missing on 17 June 2024 during his first holiday without his parents, attending the NRG music festival with friends. His body was found on 15 July after a 29-day search, having suffered a catastrophic fall.
Duncan, 57, from Oswaldtwistle, described the abuse as driving her to a nervous breakdown. She said: 'I'm surprised I'm not in a padded cell. We've been through hell and back at the hands of so-called online sleuths. It dehumanised our son.' The trolling included prank calls, photoshopped images of Jay being tortured, and accusations that the family were drug dealers. Over 300 million videos related to Jay were made on social media platforms.
The abuse intensified after trolls discovered one of Jay's friends had a drug dealing conviction, leading to unfounded theories about a 'drug-fuelled underworld'. Even after Jay's body was found, trolls claimed it was not him in the coffin and suggested exhuming the body. Duncan said: 'It was just soul destroying, because nobody knows us, but yet we were judged in such a bad way.'
Duncan lost her job as a finance officer due to poor mental health and has launched a petition called 'Jay's Law', demanding social media platforms be legally required to immediately remove organised misinformation and speculative malicious content aimed at grieving families. She is also backing the Missing People charity's campaign to end tragedy trolling.
Ross Miller, CEO of Missing People, said: 'Some of the content we're seeing is truly vile. This has got to stop - right now.' Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also backed the campaign.
