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A British teenager who is missing in Tenerife had “cut his leg on a cactus” and did not know where he was, a friend has told Sky News.

Lucy Law said 19-year-old Jay Slater is “not a stupid boy” and would have flagged down any passing car or spoken to passers by.

Mr Slater, from Lancashire, has been missing on the Spanish island since Monday morning.

Jay Slater. Pic: Lucy Law
Image:
Jay Slater. Pic: Lucy Law

His mother, a team of mountain rescuers, and the local civil guard are searching for him after he disappeared while holidaying with friends.

Ms Law said he rang her to say he “didn’t know where he was”, that he “needed a drink” and had “cut his leg on a cactus”.

Despite his mobile phone battery being down to 1% he managed to send her a photo of his location.

When she told him to return to where he had walked from, he said he did not know where that was, Ms Law said.

He was without food and water, she added, and had been in a T-shirt and shorts. “It’s very warm in the day and very cold at night,” she told the UK Tonight programme on Sky News.

“So in the day he’s going to be really warm without a drink, and then at night he’s going to be very cold without any suitable clothing.”

Ms Law and others have printed off posters in both Spanish and English and have plastered them “everywhere”, she said.

Tenerife map for Jay Slater story
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Jay Slater’s phone’s last live location was Rural de Teno Park. The search has also focused on Los Cristianos

Soon after Mr Slater went missing, an American woman offered to drive Ms Law up into the mountains.

There was “literally no sign of him anywhere”, she said. “We drove around all day.”

Mr Slater had posted a picture online of some mountains next to a house he had been to.

Ms Law drove around looking for a lamp and some flowers seen in that picture.

“We managed to find the house,” she said. “I knocked on the door and there were two people there.”

They told Ms Law that Mr Slater had gone out for a cigarette before going back in and saying he wanted to go home.

Masca, Rural de Teno park, Tenerife. Pic: iStock
Image:
Masca, Rural de Teno Park, Tenerife. Pic: iStock

“They told me he’d spoken to the next door neighbours and they’d told him there was a bus every 10 minutes back down to Los Cristianos.

“The bus stop was right next to the house. So obviously if he’d gone to get the bus he wouldn’t have got lost because it [the stop] was visible from the front door.”

Read more:
What we know so far about Jay Slater’s disappearance

The trip back down from the mountains is an hour’s drive. “Everything looks the same – it’s just a road and hills,” Ms Law said.

“I can’t understand why he would come out of the house and then decide he was going to walk. I think he maybe set off walking with battery and had not realised how far the walk actually is.”

There are “so many questions that are unanswered”, Mr Slater’s friend said.

Jay Slater and his mother, Debbie Duncan. Pic: Lucy Law
Image:
Jay Slater and his mother, Debbie Duncan. Pic: Lucy Law

‘He’s not a stupid boy’

“The thing I find the most weird about this is the fact that there’s nobody that’s seen him.

“And he’s not a stupid boy – he’s got some nous about him.

“I’ve seen so many people up here and I’ve asked every single one if they’ve seen him – this is what I find weird.

“If he’d seen somebody, or a car, he would have flagged down the car – he would have said he needed a phone to contact someone.”

She added: “He would never have his family worrying like this – he would never have us worrying like this.

“If he saw someone, the first thing he would do is say ‘I need to ring my mum’ – I know that for a fact. He would never ever have his mum worrying like this.

“It’s just awful – I’ve never in my life been so worried.

“I’ve literally not slept at all since.”

The Spanish Civil Guard told UK media they are “doing everything possible” to find Mr Slater.

“A specialist mountain rescue and intervention group called the Greim have been mobilised.

“A police helicopter is also out and focusing on the area around the village of Masca.

“Other emergency services including firefighters have also been mobilised.”

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Drones are sending ‘overwhelming amounts’ of drugs into prisons – and could help inmates escape, report warns

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Drones are sending 'overwhelming amounts' of drugs into prisons - and could help inmates escape, report warns

Sophisticated drones sending “overwhelming amounts” of drugs and weapons into prisons represent a threat to national security, according to an annual inspection report by the prisons watchdog.

HMP chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned criminal gangs are targeting jails and making huge profits selling contraband to a “vulnerable and bored” prison population.

The watchdog boss reiterated his concerns about drones making regular deliveries to two Category A jails, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Manchester, which hold “the most dangerous men in the country”, including terrorists.

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Ex-convict: Prison is ‘birthing bigger criminals’

Mr Taylor said “the police and prison service have in effect ceded the airspace” above these two high-security prisons, which he said was compromising the “safety of staff, prisoners, and ultimately that of the public”.

“The possibility now whereby we’re seeing packages of up to 10kg brought in by serious organised crime means that in some prisons there is now a menu of drugs available,” he said. “Anything from steroids to cannabis, to things like spice and cocaine.”

“Drone technology is moving fast… there is a level of risk that’s posed by drones that I think is different from what we’ve seen in the past,” warned the chief inspector – who also said there’s a “theoretical risk” that a prisoner could escape by being carried out of a jail by a drone.

He urged the prison service to “get a grip” of the issue, stating: “We’d like to see the government, security services, coming together, using technology, using intelligence, so that this risk doesn’t materialise.”

The report highlights disrepair at prisons around the country
Image:
The report highlights disrepair at prisons around the country

The report makes clear that physical security – such as netting, windows and CCTV – is “inadequate” in some jails, including Manchester, with “inexperienced staff” being “manipulated”.

Mr Taylor said there are “basic” measures which could help prevent the use of drones, such as mowing the lawn, “so we don’t get packages disguised as things like astro turf”.

Responding to the report, the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) said: “The ready access to drugs is deeply worrying and is undermining efforts to create places of rehabilitation.”

Mr Taylor’s report found that overcrowding continues to be what he described as a “major issue”, with increasing levels of violence against staff and between prisoners, combined with a lack of purposeful activity.

Some 20% of adult men responding to prisoner surveys said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, increasing to 30% in the high security estate.

Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This report is a checklist for all the reasons the government must prioritise reducing prison numbers, urgently.

“Sentencing reform is essential, and sensible steps to reduce the prison population would save lives.”

Read more UK news:
The human impact of the Post Office scandal
Govt to ban ‘appalling’ NDAs that silence victims

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May: Male prison capacity running at 99%

The report comes after the government pledged to accept most of the recommendations proposed in the independent review of sentencing policy, with the aim of freeing up around 9,500 spaces.

Those measures won’t come into effect until spring 2026.

Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said Mr Taylor’s findings show “the scale of the crisis” the government “inherited”, with “prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence”.

He said: “After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we’re building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.

“We’re also investing £40m to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.”

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Post Office scandal: Daughter has had ‘panic attacks’ since mum was accused of stealing

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Post Office scandal: Daughter has had 'panic attacks' since mum was accused of stealing

The daughter of a Post Office victim has told Sky News she suffered “dark thoughts of suicide” in the years after her mother was accused of stealing.

Kate Burrows was 14 years old when her mother, Elaine Hood, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted in 2003.

The first public inquiry report on the Post Office – examining redress and the “human impact” of the scandal – is due to be published today.

“I’ve suffered with panic attacks from about 14, 15 years old, and I still have them to this day,” Kate said.

“I’ve been in and out of therapy for what feels like most of my adult life and it absolutely categorically goes back to [what happened].”

Kate and Rebecca with their mother, Elaine
Image:
Kate and Rebecca with their mother, Elaine

Kate, along with others, helped set up the charity Lost Chances, supporting the children of Post Office victims. She hopes the inquiry will recognise their suffering.

“It’s important that our voices are heard,” she said. “Not only within the report, but in law actually.

More on Post Office Scandal

“And then maybe that would be a deterrent for any future cover-ups, that it’s not just the one person it’s the whole family [affected].”

Her sister, Rebecca Richards, who was 18 when their mother was accused, described how an eating disorder “escalated” after what happened.

“When my mum was going through everything, my only control of that situation was what food I put in my body,” she said.

Elaine Hood with her husband
Image:
Elaine with her husband

She also said that seeing her mother at court when she was convicted, would “stay with me forever”.

“The two investigators were sat in front of my dad and I, sniggering and saying ‘we’ve got this one’.

“To watch my mum in the docks handcuffed to a guard… not knowing if she was going to be coming home… that is the most standout memory for me.”

The sisters are hoping the inquiry findings will push Fujitsu into fulfilling a promise they made nearly a year ago – to try and help the children of victims.

Rebecca Richards and Kate Burrows
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The siblings were teenagers when their mum was unfairly prosecuted

Last summer, Kate met with the European boss of the company, Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways they could support Lost Chances.

Despite appearing at the inquiry in November last year and saying he would not “stay silent” on the issue, Kate said there has been little movement in terms of support.

“It’s very much a line of ‘we’re going to wait until the end of the inquiry report to decide’,” she said.

“But Mr Patterson met us in person, looked us in the eye, and we shared the most deeply personal stories and he said we will do something… they need to make a difference.”

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2024: Paula Vennells breaks down in tears

Fujitsu, who developed the faulty Horizon software, has said it is in discussions with the government regarding a contribution to compensation.

The inquiry will delve in detail into redress schemes, of which four exist, three controlled by the government and one by the Post Office.

Victims of the scandal say they are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the inquiry, will recommend that the government and the Post Office are removed from the redress schemes as thousands still wait for full and fair redress.

A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were “grateful” for the inquiry’s work, describing “the immeasurable suffering” victims endured and saying the government has “quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters”, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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Jury shown CCTV and bodycam footage of brothers allegedly assaulting police at Manchester Airport

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Jury shown CCTV and bodycam footage of brothers allegedly assaulting police at Manchester Airport

CCTV and police bodycam footage allegedly showing three police officers being assaulted at Manchester Airport has been played to jurors.

Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, and his brother, Muhammad Amaad, 26, are said to have struck out after police were called to the airport on 23 July last year, following Amaaz allegedly headbutting a customer at a Starbucks in Terminal 2.

Minutes later, three police officers approached the defendants at the paystation in the terminal’s car park.

A jury at Liverpool Crown Court today watched CCTV footage from opposite angles, which captured what the prosecution says was a “high level of violence” being used by the siblings.

The prosecution says Amaaz resisted as officers tried to move him to arrest him, and Amaad then intervened.

Junior counsel Adam Birkby suggested Amaaz threw 10 punches, including one to the face of PC Lydia Ward, which knocked her to the floor.

His brother Amaad is then said to have aimed six punches at firearms officer PC Zachary Marsden.

Amaaz also allegedly kicked PC Marsden and struck firearms officer PC Ellie Cook twice with his elbow.

He is said to have punched PC Marsden from behind and had a hold of him, before PC Cook discharged her Taser.

Human Rights lawyer Aamer Anwar (centre) arrives with Mohammed Fahir Amaaz (left) and Muhammed Amaad (right) at Liverpool Crown Court, where
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Mohammed Fahir Amaaz (left) and Muhammed Amaad (right) arrive at the court with their lawyer. Pic: PA

The bodycam and CCTV footage, submitted as evidence by the prosecution, allegedly shows the officers’ arrival in the Terminal 2 car park and their attempts to arrest the siblings, as well as their exchanges with them.

PC Ward can be heard saying “Oi, you b*****d” in footage from her bodycam, the prosecution evidence appears to show.

She then appears to fall to the floor and screams.

PC Cook, who is pointing her Taser at one of the defendants, then allegedly says: “Stay on the floor, stay on the floor whatever you do.”

“Get back, get back,” PC Ward appears to say.

The bodycam footage, shown to the jury by the prosecution, shows PC Marsden, who is also pointing his Taser, appear to approach the defendant who is lying on the ground and kick out at him.

Mr Birkby said: “Mr Amaaz, while prone, lifts his head towards the officers. PC Marsden kicks Mr Amaaz around the head area.

“PC Marsden stamps his foot towards the crown of Mr Amaaz’s head area but doesn’t appear to connect with Mr Amaaz.”

Amaaz denies three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to the three police officers and one count of assault to Abdulkareem Ismaeil, the customer at Starbucks.

Amaad denies one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to PC Marsden.

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