Friends of Jay Slater have failed to appear as witnesses at an inquest into his death – as a coroner heard the British teenager had drugs in his system before he died from a “devastating” head injury.

Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared in Tenerife after attending a music festival in June last year.

In the early hours of the following day, he is believed to have travelled to an apartment where people he had met were staying – before he went missing.

His body was recovered in a remote part of La Masca village on 15 July following an extensive search of the island by authorities and his family.

His mother Debbie Duncan, stepfather and other family members attended the inquest into Mr Slater’s death at Preston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.

Ms Duncan broke down in tears as she told the hearing she still had questions that needed answers.

The hearing, scheduled to last one day, was told extensive efforts had been made to reach several witnesses who were in contact with Mr Slater before he disappeared, which included summonses being issued.

However, a number of witnesses had failed to respond, including Mr Slater’s friends Bradley Geoghegan, Brandon Hodgson and Lucy Law, who were out with him at the music festival.

The two men who were staying at an Airbnb that Mr Slater went back to before he disappeared have also not been traced.

Ms Duncan said: “How can we ever get any understanding?

“There’s things we want to question. We want 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 James Adeley agreed to adjourn the hearing, at the request of Mr Slater’s tearful mother, who asked for the witnesses to be brought to court to give evidence before the inquest concludes. A further hearing date has yet to be set.

Earlier, the court heard analysis of Mr Slater’s body showed traces of drugs including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd detailed Mr Slater’s injuries.

He described “extensive fractures of the left side of his head… extending into the bottom of his skull”.

Mr Slater also sustained “fractures to the left side of the pelvis and hip joints”.

Dr Shepherd said the injuries were “entirely consistent with a heavy fall, from a height, landing on his head”.

Asked by the coroner if there was any suggestion of assault or restraint, he replied: “Nothing to suggest an assault, gripping, holding, nothing of that sort.”

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Dr Adeley asked the pathologist about the impact of Mr Slater’s injuries.

Dr Shepherd replied: “It would have had an immediate and devastating effect on Jay’s consciousness.

“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.”

Failing that, it would have most likely occurred “extremely soon after” the fall, he added.

Dr Shepherd gave an official cause of death as a head injury.

A tornado could batter parts of the UK, experts are warning – as southern England endures heavy rain following the driest start to spring in decades.

Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkill said it was “not out of the question that we could see a funnel cloud, maybe even a brief tornado across parts of the South East” of England on Wednesday, with southern areas facing thunder, lightning, and hail.

He added there was a “bit of a North-South split in our weather through today”.

“Northern parts having a lot of fine, sunny weather, meanwhile in the South we’ve seen some wet weather push its way in… and there will be further showery bursts to come as we go through the rest of today,” he said.

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Wednesday’s showers follow the driest start to spring in nearly six decades.

As of Friday, 80.6mm of rain had been recorded for the UK in spring 2025, nearly 20mm less than the record low for the full season of 100.7mm set in 1852.

The Environment Agency is warning that it could contribute to drought this summer if there continue to be long periods without any rainfall.

Drier weather to return tomorrow

The UK is set to return to more dry weather on Thursday, with only a few showers forecasted in the South West of England.

They will not be “as intense” as those throughout the UK today, Mr Burkill said, with “a good amount of sunshine on offer” elsewhere.

Friday is due to be “mostly fine” but more wet and windy conditions are earmarked for the weekend.

Mr Burkill described this week’s wet spells as a “real change from what we’ve become used to so far this spring”.

A registered sex offender was found with a six-year-old girl after he was detected by facial recognition technology.

David Cheneler, 73, was discovered with the child – whose mother was “completely unaware of his offending history” – after he was identified by a police van in Camberwell, south London, in January.

He was spotted using advanced technology known as Live Facial Recognition (LFR), where live footage is recorded of members of the public as they walk past, capturing their faces, which are then compared against a database of wanted offenders.

If a match is determined, the system creates an alert, which is assessed by an officer.

If suspicions are aroused, the police officer may decide to speak with the individual in question.

When Cheneler was detected on 10 January, cameras alerted the authorities to his status as a registered sex offender.

Additional checks confirmed he had breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which prohibited him from being alone with children under 14.

Cheneler was also in possession of a lock knife hidden in the buckle of his belt.

He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody.

Lindsey Chiswick, the Metropolitan Police‘s lead for LFR, said it was “a prime example of the variety of uses” of the technology.

“The tool is not only used to find those wanted, but also to stop people on a watch list who have conditions they must adhere to,” she added.

“These interventions are crucial. Without this technology, Cheneler may have had the opportunity to cause further harm.”

Cheneler had picked up the child from school as a favour to her mother, which he had done twice previously, according to the Met Police.

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Detective Constable Adam Pearce said: “Although there were no allegations made towards David Cheneler on this occasion, it’s possible if he hadn’t been identified using this technology, he could have gone on to abuse this child.

“Her mother was completely unaware of his offending history, and along with her young daughter, were both taken advantage of by Cheneler who abused their trust.”

Cheneler was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday.

In January, he pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court to breaching the conditions of his SOPO, and to possessing an offensive weapon.