The inquiry into the death of 19-year-old Jay Slater heard he had drugs in his system and the cause of his death was a head injury consistent with that of a fall

Jay Slater’s inquest is underway(Image: Instagram)

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.

The apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was found in a ravine in Rural Parc de Teno, in Tenerife, on July 15 last year. He had disappeared 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.

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Jay’s mum Debbie was heartbroken by the discovery of her son’s body(Image: Facebook)

Now Josh Forshaw, who met Jay and his friends as they queued to board the plane from Manchester to Tenerife has addressed the inquest. Josh shared contact details with Jay and met the group at the music festival.

He told the inquest that Jay “seemed dead happy” and that he was “off his head on drugs”. Josh, who said he had drunk “10 to 15 vodka shots” that night, said that Jay asked him to break an MDMA pill in half for him and friend Brad Hargreaves.

MDMA is also known as ecstasy. The inquiry also found that drugs were found in Jay’s system at his time of death. Toxicologist Dr Stephanie Martin told the inquest that, although tests when someone who has been dead for some time are “extremely challenging”, she determined that Jay had ecstasy in his system at the time of his death when the toxicology report was carried out.

Also present in his system was a cocaine metabolite, which is present when cocaine is taken at the same time as the consumption of alcohol.

Drugs were found in Jay’s body(Image: Family Handout/LBT Global/PA)

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The doctor explained that it is impossible to say exactly when Jay took the drugs but it is “likely within a day or so of his death”. At the time his body was found, the Spanish authorities also carried out their own toxicology tests, when ketamine was found in Jay’s system.

Dr Martin added: “ The only difference between our results and their results is that they found ketamine and its metabolites.” The doctor said that one “possible explanation” for why the Spanish authorities found ketamine in Jay’s system but toxicology tests carried out in the UK did not is “the time between the two post mortem investigations”.

Adding to this, the inquiry heard that the cause of Jay’s death was down to a head injury consistent with that of a fall. The pathologist working on the case has provided a medical cause of Jay’s death as “head injury”.

Jay Slater Was ‘Off His Head on Drugs’ as Festival-Goer Claims He Was Asked to Halve MDMA Pill

A fellow festival-goer has come forward with claims that missing British teenager Jay Slater appeared to be heavily under the influence of drugs before his mysterious disappearance in Tenerife — and even asked someone to help split an MDMA pill shortly before he vanished.

Slater, 19, went missing in June after attending the “New Rave Generation” (NRG) music event on the island. He was last heard from on June 17, when he called a friend saying he was lost in a mountainous area near Masca, had no water, and only 1% battery on his phone. Despite extensive searches by Spanish authorities and private efforts from his family, no trace of him has been found to date.

The latest revelation comes from a fellow British attendee at the NRG festival, who told UK media that Jay had approached him on the night of the event asking if he could help break an MDMA pill in half. According to the source, Jay seemed “off his head” and not in a good mental state, adding that “he didn’t seem to know where he was half the time.”

The unnamed individual claims Jay was taking various substances over the course of the evening and was surrounded by people who were also using drugs. While drug use is not uncommon at such events, the details add to the growing mystery surrounding Jay’s final hours and raise questions about his judgment, decision-making, and vulnerability when he left the festival with two men later identified as British nationals.

Those two men reportedly took Jay back to their Airbnb apartment in the remote village of Masca — a location far from the main festival grounds and difficult to reach without local knowledge. Jay was last confirmed to be at that residence before setting off on foot the following morning, apparently trying to return to his accommodation in the south of the island. He never made it back.

The new claims about his condition that night add a troubling dimension to the case. If Jay was indeed intoxicated, it might help explain why he chose to leave with strangers, and why he later found himself alone and disoriented in dangerous terrain. It also increases the possibility that he was vulnerable to exploitation, or that his disappearance may have involved others who were aware of his condition and whereabouts.

Authorities in both Spain and the UK have not officially commented on the drug-related claims, and no toxicology report exists due to Jay still being listed as a missing person. However, the information could provide useful context for investigators trying to reconstruct the timeline of events and understand the psychological state Jay may have been in before he went missing.

Jay’s family has not publicly addressed the drug allegations but continue to campaign for more action in the investigation. They have repeatedly expressed frustration at what they see as a lack of urgency from local authorities and are calling for renewed searches and pressure from British diplomats to uncover the truth.

As with many aspects of this case, the latest details remain unverified and largely based on witness testimony. Nonetheless, they highlight the complex and chaotic environment in which Jay spent his final known hours — one filled with loud music, unfamiliar people, and potentially dangerous choices.

For now, the disappearance of Jay Slater remains one of the most baffling and heart-wrenching cases in recent memory. With no body, no conclusive evidence, and no new leads emerging from weeks of investigation, each new testimony — credible or not — becomes a key piece in a puzzle that no one has yet managed to solve.

The hope remains that answers will eventually come to light, and that the truth of what happened to Jay Slater in the hills of Tenerife will not be permanently buried in silence, speculation, or shadows.

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