British teenager Jay Slater had taken ecstasy, cocaine and possibly ketamine – but did not steal a Rolex watch as he claimed on Snapchat – the night before he went missing in Tenerife, an inquest into his death has heard.

Bradley Geoghegan, who was on holiday with Mr Slater on the Spanish island, said the 19-year-old had also been drinking alcohol before he was last seen on 17 June last year.

Mr Slater’s disappearance sparked a huge search until his body was eventually found by a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard in a ravine near the village of Masca around four weeks later on 15 July.

Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said in May that a post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as head injuries, and Mr Slater’s body showed no evidence of restraint or assault, with the pattern of injuries consistent with a fall from a height.

The teenager, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had been to the NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas on 16 June.

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During the night out he was forced to leave a nightclub for being too drunk. However, instead of going back to the apartment he shared with Mr Geoghegan, he went to an Airbnb miles away in the northern village of Masca with two men they had met on the holiday.

The next morning Mr Geoghegan said he got a video call from Mr Slater, who was walking along a road and was still “under the influence”, Preston Coroner’s Court heard.

Mr Geoghegan said: “I said put your maps on to see how far you were. 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’.”

He added that did not think his friend had any money on him, and taxis in Tenerife insisted on payment up front before carrying a fare.

The inquest into Mr Slater’s death had begun in May but was adjourned the same day.

Dr James Adeley, a senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, made the decision after a number of witnesses who had been asked to give evidence could not be traced or were unable to attend.

The adjournment allowed for time to trace the witnesses who had been with him in the hours before he vanished.

Witness says Slater didn’t steal watch

This includes Ayub Qassim – one of the two men staying in the Airbnb that Mr Slater travelled back to.

Mr Qassim said he and Steven Roccas, the second man staying in the Airbnb, met Mr Slater and his friends out in Tenerife.

He added that Mr Slater asked if he could come back to his and Mr Roccas’ apartment on the night before he went missing.

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Mr Qassim, giving evidence via videolink, told the hearing: “I did say, ‘Bro, oh mate, it’s so far away from the strip.’ There’s nothing happening there other than scenery. I said I would drop him off in the morning. He rolled with us.”

The coroner then asked Mr Qassim about messages Mr Slater had sent about a watch possibly being stolen.

Mr Qassim said while still on the strip before leaving for their apartment he saw what he described as a Romanian “Lucky-lucky” man take a watch from another person and tried to sell it to him and Mr Slater.

He added: “Jay did not steal no watch. I can say 100%.”

While on the drive to the Airbnb Mr Slater then posted a message to friends on social media, saying: “Just took a 12k Rolly (Rolex) off some c*** with this Maili (Somalian) kid. Off to get 10 quid (thousand) for it. Off my undies ha, ha, ha.”

Coroner Dr Adeley asked the witness: “You were not involved in taking a watch?”

Mr Qassim replied: “No. And neither was he.”

He said when they got to his Airbnb he gave Mr Slater a blanket and pillow and told him he could sleep on the sofa before going off to his own bed.

Slater said he ‘cut his leg on a cactus’

Lucy Law, who had to be traced along with Mr Geoghegan and Mr Qassim after the inquest was adjourned in May, was next to speak at the hearing and said Mr Slater was “definitely on a buzz… but not visibly mangled” the night before he went missing.

Ms Law said Mr Slater told her “there’s no way I’m going home” after she suggested it.

She is believed to be the last person to have had contact with the teenager after she spoke to him on a 22-second call on the morning he went missing.

He is believed to have said he had cut his leg on a cactus and got lost in the mountains. His phone battery was also said to be on 1% at this point.

Meanwhile, the coroner’s officer Alice Swarbrick said she was unable to get in touch with Mr Slater’s friend Brandon Hodgson and Mr Roccas so that they could give evidence at the inquest.

The father of a two-week-old baby has been found guilty of murdering him in hospital.

Daniel Gunter, 27, killed his son, Brendon Staddon, on 5 March 2024, a jury at Bristol Crown Court has concluded.

Baby Brendon suffered “catastrophic injuries” to his head, neck, legs and jaw, while he was a patient at the special care baby unit at Yeovil District Hospital in Somerset.

The jury found Gunter guilty of his son’s murder, but the baby’s mother, Gunter’s former partner Sophie Staddon, 23, was cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Staddon was previously found not guilty of murder, and Gunter was cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child on the direction of the trial judge, Mr Justice Swift.

The defendants showed no emotion as the verdicts were returned.

“Daniel Gunter, you have been found guilty of murder. You will be remanded into custody pending the sentencing hearing,” the judge said.

“Sophie Staddon, you have been acquitted by the jury. Your bail will no longer be necessary, and you are free to go.”

Gunter, of no fixed address, will be sentenced on a later date yet to be fixed.

The court heard hospital staff had discovered Brendan’s serious injuries after Staddon told nurses her son was cold and asked them to check on him around 4am.

But while staff rushed to Brendon’s cot to try and save him, his parents walked outside for a cigarette, Charles Row KC, prosecuting, said during the three-week trial.

He said Brendon was found with his baby grow open, and staff soon realised he had suffered devastating injuries.

“In plain language, his head had been crushed so as to shatter his skull. He was badly bruised from head to toe, with deep scratches in his neck,” Mr Row said.

“He was later found to have, amongst other injuries, a broken neck, a broken jaw, broken legs, broken ankles and broken wrists.”

Staff carried the baby’s “limp, lifeless body” to the resuscitation area, but Brendon did not respond to treatment.

His parents were arrested by police outside the hospital as they were smoking.

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Social services and Gunter’s family had raised concerns about the couple’s “lack of emotional warmth” toward their child before his death, Mr Row said.

A post-mortem examination found Brendon died of “blunt force impact(s) head injury” with multiple non-accidental injuries to the head.

The prosecution said during the trial that the jury needed to understand the “sheer brutality” involved in Brendon’s death, with Mr Row adding that “there was hardly a part of his body that was spared”.

Two children and a woman who died in a shooting in County Fermanagh have been named.

Vanessa Whyte, 45, and her two children, Sara Rutledge, aged 13, and 14-year-old James Rutledge, died in the shooting on Wednesday morning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.

A man, who is a member of the same household, was seriously injured in the shooting in the village of Maguiresbridge, about 75 miles (120km) southwest of Belfast.

Police launched a murder investigation, and Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness asked people with information about the shooting incident to contact police.

“I am particularly keen to hear from anyone who had spoken to Vanessa, Sara or James over the last few weeks. If you are someone that Vanessa, Sara or James may have confided in, please come and speak to us,” he said.

“Any information, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem could prove crucial to our investigation.”

Police don’t anticipate any arrests being made at this stage, Superintendent Robert McGowan, district commander for Fermanagh and Omagh, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Emergency services were called to the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge at around 8am on Wednesday following a report raised from the property.

Two people were found dead at the scene, and two others were seriously injured.

One patient was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, by air ambulance and the other to South West Acute Hospital by ambulance. Supt McGowan said the third person died at the South West Acute Hospital.

A local Gaelic football club said the victims were all “active and beloved” members of their club.

Sara and James Rutledge also used to be part of a local cricket club, which said in a statement that it was “extremely saddened by the tragic events”.

“Both of them turned out to be talented young cricketers and two absolutely lovely-natured children,” the statement read.

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Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said: “The news from Maguiresbridge is tragic and deeply distressing.

“My thoughts are with the victims, their relatives and the local community in Fermanagh.”

Sinn Fein MP Pat Cullen has expressed her deep shock over the shooting.

“I’m also thinking of all the wee school friends of those two wee children and what that must feel like for all of them and how the next few days and weeks will be for everyone, particularly just at the beginning of the school holidays,” she said.

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine, who represents Co Fermanagh in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said that the community was “stunned” by the shooting in “a rural, quiet area”.

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