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If Christmas dinner in your house means soggy Brussels sprouts, desiccated turkey and gloopy gravy that’s gone cold while you’ve waited for everything else to cook, you’re not alone.

But what if it didn’t have to be that way?

We asked some of the most renowned chefs in the UK to give their ultimate guide to making Christmas dinner.

Prep

This is key, says two-Michelin star chef Alex Dilling: “Any step you can do days ahead will help not only the time with your family but also there will be far less washing up.”

For TV regular and one-starred Tom Shepherd, this means doing the Yorkshire pudding batter and cauliflower cheese the night before, and prepping all the veg.

Tom Shepherd owns fine dining restaurant Upstairs by Tom Shepherd in Lichfield.
Image:
Tom Shepherd owns fine dining restaurant Upstairs by Tom Shepherd in Lichfield.

Brining the turkey

“I’m really into brining my turkey, I couldn’t recommend this enough,” says Shepherd, whose Staffordshire restaurant Upstairs is booked up more than a year in advance.

You'll be raising a glass too if your turkey comes out this good. File pic
Image:
You’ll be raising a glass too if your turkey comes out this good. File pic

Tom Shepherd’s brine

  • A simple 10% salt to water brine
  • A bit of thyme, garlic and orange peel thrown in
  • Leave it for 24 hours, then remove 90 minutes before cooking to dry it off, rub in butter and salt.

Cooking the turkey

Hrishikesh Desai, the renowned chef patron at one-star Country House Hotel in north Cumbria, does it like this to maximise flavour…

  • Take the legs off the turkey and debone them;
  • Take the wishbone off and create a gap between the skin of the turkey and the breast. Fill it with well-seasoned stuffing or butter or truffle butter. Leave in the fridge to rest;
  • Take as many sinews off the deboned legs as possible then flatten the meat and fill it with stuffing. Lay on an oiled foil sheet, season and wrap to form a roll. Make sure it is rolled tight. Cook in a preheated oven at 220C for 1.5 hours. Remove from the tinfoil, fry the legs on a pan to brown it evenly. Slice and serve;
  • For the main turkey, remove from the fridge, drizzle oil or brush with soft butter, place on a roasting pan and then into the pre-heated oven at 220C. Cook for at least 1 to 1.5 hours while basting every 10 minutes.
  • To ensure the turkey meat is cooked, use a carving fork, push through the crown and lift the turkey. If the juices run without any blood then it’s done;
  • Remove from the oven, cover with foil and rest for at least 20 minutes before carving.
Hrishikesh Desai
Image:
Hrishikesh Desai

For Shepherd, a resting time of at least 60 minutes is best.

Great British Menu legend Lisa Goodwin-Allen, executive chef at one-starred Northcote, says a leftfield choice might be to cook the turkey on the BBQ instead of in the oven.

“Not only does it give you more space in the oven on a busy Christmas Day, but it also gives the meat a lovely smoky flavour that adds an extra dimension to your Christmas dinner,” she says.

Turkey alternatives

Most of the chefs we spoke to aren’t fans of turkey.

“It has its place but there is a reason we only tend to eat it once a year,” says Dilling. “As a large bird with a low fat content, it can very easily become dry.”

For him, goose is “an incredible and underrated bird” as it’s a simple roast and full of delicious fat – which has the bonus of making your roasties super tasty.

Benjamin Ferra Y Castell, head chef at one-starred Pavyllon in London, recommends guinea fowl.

Benjamin Ferra Y Castell of Michelin-starred Pavyllon London
Image:
Benjamin Ferra Y Castell of Michelin-starred Pavyllon London

“Many people overcook poultry to be sure it’s done, but that can dry it out,” he says. “The trick is to cook it in two stages.”

For a 1.2 kg guinea fowl…

  • Season well with salt, pepper and butter for extra flavour;
  • Roast it at 200C with the fan on for about 45 minutes until golden and crispy, basting it while it cooks;
  • Once the breast is cooked, remove the legs and cook them for another 15 minutes. If you’re unsure, use a cooking thermometer – when the thickest part of the breast reaches 57C, take it out and let it rest for 10 minutes. It’ll continue to cook and reach 63C, which is perfect for poultry. Don’t worry about the legs; they’ll stay juicy due to the collagen in the meat.

Lisa Goodwin-Allen’s perfect roasties

Before we get to this, we need to decide what potatoes to use. Benjamin Ferra Y Castell likes Ratte potatoes as “they’re small, cook quickly, and are full of flavour”. For Hrishikesh Desai, it has to be Maris Piper.

As for how to cook them, here’s Goodwin-Allen’s guide uncut…

“You want a good chipping potato that’s going to be light and fluffy on the inside and good texture on the outside.

“I don’t use just regular water – I take water, duck fat, a couple of crushed garlic cloves and tie some rosemary up, bring it to the boil and let it simmer for at least two hours or overnight to get a lot of flavour into the water.

Lisa Goodwin-Allen
Image:
Lisa Goodwin-Allen

These aren't Lisa Goodwin-Allen's roasties, but they look good nonetheless...
Image:
These aren’t Lisa Goodwin-Allen’s roasties, but they look good nonetheless…

“When that’s ready I put the potatoes in, bring it to boil and then simmer them until they’re partially done. You should be able to just slip your knife through them. I then take them out and fluff them up. A great little tip here is to mix a bit of rice flour with garlic granules and dust them, then put them onto a tray.

“Then, you want to freeze them! Freezing them breaks down the carbohydrate inside them which is going to help them turn out perfectly.

“When you bring them back, put a tray of duck fat into the oven – get it really nice and hot. This can be done from frozen. When you put them in, they should really sizzle because you want them to fry, not boil. You could also fry them (three to four minutes from frozen, then take them out and fry again for 15 minutes before serving). They will be nice and crispy on the outside and really decadent and fluffy on the inside. That’s what a good roast potato is all about.”

Jean Delport, executive chef at one-starred Restaurant Interlude in West Sussex, adds a knob of butter to his duck fat to ensure they get super crispy. A common tip is to get the fat up to temperature, 220C, before putting the roasties in.

Jean Delport
Image:
Jean Delport

Delport says you need to shake them, both initially and at 15-minute intervals, to prevent sticking.

Tom Shepherd adds minced garlic after cooking.

Other veg

The Shepherds will be having creamed cabbage.

“It’s a winner in our house,” he says, revealing his method…

  • Grab a humble white cabbage, remove the root and slice as thinly as possible;
  • Boil in salted water until softened, and chill
  • Meanwhile, reduce a pan of double cream with garlic and thyme in by half, and whisk in some grated parmesan, season with salt and pepper, and reintroduce the cabbage to the mix – you won’t regret it.

Niklas Ekstedt, Michelin-starred chef and owner at Ekstedt at The Yard in Westminster, roasts root vegetables like parsnips, carrots and beets with a drizzle of teriyaki sauce and some ginger.

“The sticky sauce and fresh ginger adds a real depth of flavour that elevates the vegetables for a delicious side dish,” he says.

Niklas Ekstedt
Image:
Niklas Ekstedt

How do you make Brussels sprouts taste nice?

Brussels sprouts absorb a lot of water so do not boil them, says Dilling.

Instead, cut them in half and mix them with duck fat, bacon lardons, garlic and herbs. Roast them till charred and tender.

Admittedly not everyone's favourite vegetable, but still a Christmas classic. File pic
Image:
Admittedly not everyone’s favourite vegetable, but still a Christmas classic. File pic

Gravy

Ferra Y Castell shares his recipe…

  • 100g diced shallots
  • 3g cracked black pepper
  • 60g soy sauce
  • 140g sherry vinegar

“Reduce these ingredients in a pan until nearly dry,” he says. “Then, add the reduction to a good beef stock, add a dash of cognac, and you’ll have a rich, flavourful gravy.”

What's a roast without gravy? Again, this gravy was not made by the chefs mentioned here
Image:
What’s a roast without gravy? Again, this gravy was not made by the chefs mentioned here

Shepherd says “the tray you roast your meat on is like gold dust”.

Add onions for your meat to sit on and some roughly chopped carrots, he says. Once the meat is resting, you can get going.

“I begin with placing the tray on the stove and heat,” he says. “Add a little garlic and flour, cook that out until no longer clumpy and start by deglazing the tray with a glass of wine, then once that has evaporated, add some meat stock, ideally the same stock as your chosen meat, ie, beef or turkey. Boil that and reduce to a gravy consistency, pass through a sieve and enjoy.”

‘Unbelievable’ stuffing

This one comes from Dilling – or rather his mum.

“She always used to make a sage, pork and onion stuffing with lots of celery and good homemade chicken stock,” he says. “She would put it in a gratin dish and bake it in the oven. Crisp on top and soft underneath. Just writing this I am salivating. Unbelievable.”

Two Michelin-starred Alex Dilling, of Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal on Regent Street
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Two Michelin-starred Alex Dilling, of Alex Dilling at Hotel Cafe Royal on Regent Street

Yorkshire puddings – yes or no?

Delport is firmly in the no camp.

“Not for me. I’m not their biggest fan, but for Christmas there are too many other options I would rather add to our selection,” he says.

Shepherd takes the opposite view.

“Yorkshire puddings are essential with any roast dinner, especially at Christmas!” he says. “A non-negotiable!”

If you’re with Shepherd and fancy making your own, here’s a recipe courtesy of one of the best chefs in Yorkshire, James Mackenzie from the one-starred Pipe and Glass Inn…

Pic: Tony Bartholomew
Image:
Pic: Tony Bartholomew

Ingredients (makes 10)

  • Six eggs
  • 300ml full fat milk
  • 260g plain flour
  • Goose or duck fat or beef dripping, or rapeseed oil if preferred
  • Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4;
  • Place the eggs and milk into a mixing bowl and whisk together, sieve the flour in and mix with a hand blender until you’ve got a smooth batter. Leave to stand for at least 10 minutes;
  • In a 12-hole baking tray, place a tablespoon of fat into each mould and put in the oven until smoking hot;
  • Season the batter immediately before you pour it into the smoking hot tray – this will stop the salt breaking down the egg and your puddings will rise really well;
  • Fill up 10 moulds nearly full around the edge of the tray, leaving two moulds in the middle free to allow the heat to circulate evenly;
  • Bake for 35 minutes and don’t be tempted to open the oven door earlier or they will collapse.

Dessert

Delport offers his guests a massive cheeseboard, with a variety of sweet things alongside, while Shepherd likes a homemade tiramisu – but suggests leaving Christmas pudding to the experts…

“No one beats Marks & Spencer for me,” he says.

For a leftfield choice, Ekstedt suggests Risgrynsgröt (rice pudding).

“It’s a Swedish classic, but I like to add a little twist. I sometimes serve it with a salted caramel sauce or some roasted nuts – it’s delicious and full of nostalgia.”

In case you were wondering what Risgrynsgröt looks like. File pic
Image:
In case you were wondering what Risgrynsgröt looks like. File pic

Leftovers

“My favourite part,” says Shepherd.

His suggestion is piling hot turkey, stuffing, creamed cabbage and roast potato into a sandwich or Yorkie pudding, with a hot pot of gravy on the side to dip it in.

“Incredible,” he says.

Desai, however, has a different philosophy…

“Don’t have any leftovers, just eat it all, you get Christmas only once a year!”

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Two children and mother who died in Northern Ireland shooting named

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Two children and mother who died in Northern Ireland shooting named

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.

The scene in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh, after two people died and two people been seriously injured in a shooting incident. Picture date: Wednesday July 23, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wire
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The scene in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh, after three people died in a shooting. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wire

“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.

Maguiresbridge
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Maguiresbridge

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.”

The scene in the Drummeer Road area of Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh, after two people died and two people been seriously injured in a shooting incident. Picture date: Wednesday July 23, 2025. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wire
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The scene was cordoned off by police following the shooting on Wednesday morning. Pic: Oliver McVeigh /PA Wire

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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Welfare versus warfare: Sir Keir Starmer’s unresolved question – and why the PM’s pinned his hopes on economic growth

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Welfare versus warfare: Sir Keir Starmer's unresolved question  - and why the PM's pinned his hopes on economic growth

Welfare versus warfare: for decades, it’s a question to which successive prime ministers have responded with one answer.

After the end of the Cold War, leaders across the West banked the so-called “peace dividend” that came with the end of this conflict between Washington and Moscow.

Instead of funding their armies, they invested in the welfare state and public services instead.

But now the tussle over this question is something that the current prime minister is grappling with, and it is shaping up to be one of the biggest challenges for Sir Keir Starmer since he got the job last year.

As Clement Attlee became the Labour prime minister credited with creating the welfare state after the end of the Second World War, so it now falls on the shoulders of the current Labour leader to create the warfare state as Europe rearms.

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UK to buy nuclear-carrying jets

Be it Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, arguing last year that Europe had moved from the post-war era to the pre-war era; or European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen calling on the EU to urgently rearm Ukraine so it is a “steel porcupine” against Russian invaders; there is a consensus that the UK and Europe are on – to quote Sir Keir – a “war footing” and must spend more on defence.

To that end the prime minister has committed to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, raiding the overseas development aid budget to do so, and has also committed, alongside other NATO allies, to spend 5% of GDP on defence by 2035.

More on Defence

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What is NATO’s 5% defence spending goal?

That is a huge leap in funding and a profound shift from what have been the priorities for government spending – the NHS, welfare and education – in recent decades.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies’ Carl Emmerson said the increase, in today’s terms, would be like adding approximately £30bn to the 2027 target of spending around £75bn on core defence.

Sir Keir has been clear-eyed about the decision, arguing that the first duty of any prime minister is to keep his people safe.

But the pledge has raised the obvious questions about how those choices are funded, and whether other public services will face cuts at a time when the UK’s economic growth is sluggish and public finances are under pressure.

This, then, is one of his biggest challenges: can he make sure Britain looks after itself in a fragile world, while also sticking to his promises to deliver for the country?

It is on this that the prime minister has come unstuck over the summer, as he was forced to back down over proposed welfare cuts to the tune of £5bn at the end of this term, in the face of a huge backbench rebellion. Many of his MPs want warfare and welfare.

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Starmer and Merz sign deal on defence and migration

“There’s been a real collision in recent weeks between those two policy worlds,” explains Jim Murphy, who served both as a welfare minister under Tony Blair and shadow defence secretary under Ed Miliband.

“In welfare, how do you provide for the people who genuinely need support and who, without the state’s support, couldn’t survive? What’s the interplay between that and the unconditional strategic need to invest more in defence?

“For the government, they either get economic growth or they have a series of eye-watering choices in which there can be no compromise with the defence of the state and everything else faces very serious financial pressures.”

He added: “No Labour politician comes into politics to cut welfare, schools or other budgets. But on the basis that defence is non-negotiable, everything else, unfortunately, may face those cuts.”

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‘There are lines I will not cross’

While the PM sees this clearly, ask around the cabinet table and ministers will admit that the tough choices society will need to take if they genuinely want to respond to the growing threat from Russia, compounded by the unpredictability of Donald Trump, is yet to fully sink in.

There are generations of British citizens that have only ever lived in peace, that do not, like I do, remember the Cold War or The Troubles.

There are also millions of Britons struggling with the cost of living and and public satisfaction with key public services is at historic lows. That is why Labour campaigned in the election on the promise of change, to raise living standards and cut NHS waiting lists.

Ask the public, and 49% of people recognise defence spending needs to increase. But 53% don’t want it to come from other areas of public spending, while 55% are opposed to paying more tax to fund that defence increase.

There is also significant political resistance from the Labour Party.

Sir Keir’s attempts to make savings in the welfare budget have been roundly rejected by his MPs. Instead, his backbenchers are talking about more tax rises to fund public services, or even a broader rethink of Rachel Reeves’s fiscal rules.

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Rachel Reeves’s fiscal dilemma

Anneliese Dodds, who quit as development minister over cuts to the overseas aid budget, wrote in her resignation letter that she had “expected [cabinet] would collectively discuss our fiscal rules and approach to taxation, as other nations are doing”, as part of a wider discussion about the changing threats.

In an interview for our Electoral Dysfunction podcast, which will be released later this summer, she expanded on this idea.

She said: “I think it’s really important to take a step back and think about what’s going to be necessary, looking 10, 20 years ahead. It looks like the world is not going to become safer, unfortunately, during that period. It’s really important that we increase defence spending.

“I think that does mean we’ve got to really carefully consider those issues about our fiscal rules and about taxation. That isn’t easy… nonetheless, I think we will have to face up to some really big issues.

“Now is the time when we need to look at what other countries are doing. We need to consider whether we have the right system in place.”

Minister for Women and Equalities Anneliese Dodds arrives for a Cabinet meeting in central London. Picture date: Friday February 7, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story POLITICS Cabinet. Photo credit should read: Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire
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Anneliese Dodds quit the government over cuts to the overseas aid budget. Pic: PA

For the Labour MP, that means potentially reassessing the fiscal rules and how the fiscal watchdog assesses government spending to perhaps give the government more leeway. She also believes that the government should look again at tax rises.

She added: “We do, I believe, need to think about taxation.

“Now again, there’s no magic wand. There will be implications from any change that would be made. As I said before, we are quite highly taxing working people now, but I think there are ways in which we can look at taxation, not without implications.

“But in a world of difficult trade-offs, we’ve got to take the least worst trade-off for the long term. And that’s what I think is gonna be really important.”

Those trade-offs are going to be discussed more and more into the autumn, ahead of what is looking like an extremely difficult budget for the PM and Ms Reeves.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the launch of the 10-year health plan in east London. Pic: PA
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are facing difficult choices. Pic: PA

Not only is the chancellor now dealing with a £5bn shortfall in her accounts from the welfare reform reversal, but she is also dealing with higher-than-expected borrowing costs, fuelled by surging debt costs.

Plus, government borrowing was £3.5bn more than forecast last month, with June’s borrowing coming in at £20.7bn – the second-highest figure since records began in 1993.

Some economists are now predicting that the chancellor will have to raise taxes or cut spending by around £20bn in the budget to fill the growing black hole.

Former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt
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Former chancellor Jeremy Hunt says Labour’s U-turn on cuts to welfare risk trapping Britain in a ‘doom loop’

Jeremy Hunt, former Conservative chancellor and now backbencher, tells me he was “massively disappointed” that Labour blinked on welfare reform.

He said: “First of all, it’s terrible for people who are currently trapped on welfare, but secondly, because the risk is that the consequence of that, is that we get trapped in a doom loop of very higher taxes and lower growth.”

‘This group of politicians have everything harder ‘

Mr Murphy says he has sympathy for the predicament of this Labour government and the task they face.

He explained: “We were fortunate [back in the early 2000s] in that the economy was still relatively okay, and we were able to reform welfare and do really difficult reforms. This is another world.

“This group of politicians have everything harder than we had. They’ve got an economy that has been contracting, public services post-COVID in trouble, a restless public, a digital media, an American president who is at best unreliable, a Russian president.

“Back then [in the 2000s] it was inconceivable that we would fight a war with Russia. On every measure, this group of politicians have everything harder than we ever had.”

Over the summer and into the autumn, the drumbeat of tax rises will only get louder, particularly amongst a parliamentary party seemingly unwilling to back spending cuts.

But that just delays a problem unresolved, which is how a government begins to spend billions more on defence whilst also trying to maintain a welfare state and rebuild public services.

This is why the government is pinning so much hope onto economic growth as it’s escape route out of its intractable problem. Because without real economic growth to help pay for public services, the government will have to make a choice – and warfare will win out.

What is still very unclear is how Sir Keir manages to take his party and the people with him.

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Jay Slater inquest resumes after final effort to trace witnesses – all you need to know

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Jay Slater inquest resumes after final effort to trace witnesses - all you need to know

An inquest into the death of teenager Jay Slater is due to resume today after being adjourned two months ago.

The 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, disappeared on the Spanish island of Tenerife after attending the NRG music festival on 16 June 2024.

He was reported missing and, after an extensive search and rescue mission and significant media attention, his body was found a month later on 15 July.

An inquest into the teenager’s death began in May at Preston Coroner’s Court, but was adjourned the same day, to the disappointment of Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan.

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.

After making a final effort to trace key witnesses, the inquest will now resume on 23 and 24 July. Here is all you need to know.

What happened to Jay Slater?

On 17 June 2024, just days into his first holiday without his family, Mr Slater was reported missing.

The night before, he is believed to have left his friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas and made an hour-long drive to a modest Airbnb in the tiny village of Masca, with two people he had met on the holiday.

Phone data reveals Mr Slater’s last known location was the Rural de Teno park – a mountainous area popular with hikers.

The 19-year-old’s disappearance sparked a huge 29-day search effort – with emergency services, local volunteers and Mr Slater’s family combing a large mountainous area of the island searching for any trace of the teenager.

Within days, Facebook groups dedicated to the case had also been set up – with some quickly attracting hundreds of thousands of members.

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July 2024: Where was Jay Slater found?

The Spanish civil guard released a statement on 15 July to say they had “located the lifeless body of a young man in the Masca area after 29 days of constant search”.

What happened during the first inquest hearing?

Mr Slater’s mother Debbie Duncan, stepfather and other family members gathered at the inquest in Preston Coroner’s Court on 21 May.

Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said Mr Slater’s injuries were “entirely consistent” with a fall from a great height and gave an official cause of death as a head injury.

“The injuries were so severe I have no doubt he would have been instantly unconscious from the moment of that blow to the head. Death could well have been instant, the injury was so severe,” Dr Shepherd said.

Pic: Reuters
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The search and rescue mission was launched a day after Jay Slater was reported missing. Pic: Reuters

He said there was no suggestion that the teenager had been assaulted or restrained.

Toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin said traces of MDMA and MDA, commonly known as ecstasy, along with cocaine and alcohol, were also found in Mr Slater’s body.

Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Higson, from Lancashire Constabulary, told the court that messages from Mr Slater’s friends advising him to go home were found on his phone

Pic: Reuters
Guardia Civil agents and police officers organise the search for the young Briton Jay Slater in the Masca ravine, on the island of Tenerife, Spain, June 26, 2024. REUTERS/Borja Suarez
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Civil Guard agents and police officers in the Masca ravine. Pic: Reuters

Officers were flanked by specialist sniffer dogs from Madrid

DCI Higson said at 8.35am on 17 June, his friend Ms Law sent him a message saying: “Before it gets boiling get back to wherever you have come from.”

At 8.50am there was the last known outgoing communication from Mr Slater’s phone, a 22-second call from him to Ms Law in which he is believed to have said he had cut his leg on a cactus, he was lost in the mountains and his phone battery was on 1%.

A view of Preston Coroner's Court, Lancashire, at the opening of the inquest into the death of Nicola Bulley, who disappeared on January 27
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The inquest is taking place at Preston Coroner’s Court. Pic: PA

Who are the missing witnesses?

The witnesses that the court tried to trace the first time included Bradley Geoghegan, Brandon Hodgson and Lucy Law, who were all with Mr Slater in Tenerife.

At the time of the first inquest it is believed they were not in the UK and were unable to attend.

Read more from Sky News:
How search for missing teenager captured nation’s attention
Inside the valley where Jay Slater’s body was found

The two men who were staying at the Airbnb property Mr Slater travelled to before his disappearance – Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas – were unable to be traced, despite summonses being issued.

Mr Slater’s mother Ms Duncan told the court in May that she wanted “these people to be sat in front of us, because our son went on holiday and didn’t come back, so there’s questions we need to ask”.

Coroner Dr Adeley said he would adjourn the inquest in an effort to find the witnesses and give Ms Duncan the “answers you want”, but it remains unknown if the key witnesses will appear at the inquest on Thursday and Friday.

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