Jay Slater had taken drugs and alcohol and was 14-hour walk from resort, inquest told

Friend says the Lancashire teenager called him before his death in Tenerife and did not seem fearful or under duress

The British teenager Jay Slater had taken drugs and alcohol and was a 14-hour walk away from his accommodation before his disappearance sparked a four-week search in Tenerife, an inquest into his death heard.

The 19-year-old had taken ecstasy pills, cocaine and possibly ketamine, along with alcohol, before he went to an Airbnb with two strangers, one of his friends told a court on Thursday. Bradley Geoghegan, who had gone on holiday with Slater, said Slater had video-called him after he left the apartment on the morning of 17 June last year.

“I said, ‘put your maps on to see how far you were’,” Geoghegan told Preston coroner’s court. “It was like a 14-hour walk or an hour drive. I said, ‘Get a taxi back’, then he just goes, ‘I will ring you back.’”

The witness said he did not think his friend had any money on him, and taxis in Tenerife insisted on payment upfront before carrying a fare.