Drug dealer Jay Slater stayed with at Airbnb reveals final time he saw teen before he plunged to death in Tenerife
The last time he spoke to the teenager before he plummeted to his death was mentioned by one of the last persons to see Jay Slater alive.
The night before he vanished on June 17, the 19-year-old Brit was brought back to an Airbnb in Masca by Ayub Qassim, 31, a convicted heroin dealer.
Since the Lancashire teenager was found dead in a ravine a short stroll from the Airbnb, Qassim has consistently denied any role in Jay’s passing.
He claims that Jay slept at the house for forty dollars a night before departing early the next morning.
According to Qassim, who lives in Barking, east London, he offered Jay a ride back to his hotel complex, but the teenager turned him down and hurried off before vanishing.
In a two-hour interview, four months after Jay’s funeral, Qassim discussed his last encounter with Jay.
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He said in an interview with The Central Club podcast that he left Jay “in one piece” and that he cannot be held responsible for his untimely demise.
He acknowledged experiencing “survivor’s guilt” upon learning of Jay’s disappearance, but claimed that at the time, it felt like a “told you so” moment because Jay had declined a ride back.
“My reaction was mate, I f***ing told him I’d give him a lift in a couple hours, if only he waited,” Qassim stated after speaking with his friend who initially informed him that Jay hadn’t returned to his buddies.
“That’s the issue with your lot. I’m heading to bed. Your partner is lovely; he arrived and departed undamaged, and I fulfilled my obligation.
“The moment he said ‘I’m going’ and I shut my door, that’s me out of this.”
He continued: “Sorry I couldn’t be your foreign suspect, I apologise, it’s not me for this whole situation.”
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It is thought that following a night of partying at the NRG festival in Papagayo, Playa de las Americas, Jay was driven back to the Airbnb by Qassim.
A third man, who goes by Rocky but has not yet been officially named, joined the two.
Additionally, Qassim has now acknowledged that he was aware of Jay’s reservations about staying at the Airbnb.
He claimed that a friend who spoke with Jay the morning before he vanished gave him messages.
In one text, Jay inquires, “Are these lads sweet?” regarding Qassim and a third man remaining with the two.
“My pal did say he messaged to ask ‘Is your pal alright upstairs’ and my guy said ‘Come off it, he is sweet,'” the 31-year-old stated on the podcast.
That was ten to twenty minutes prior to his departure. I think there was a lot of back-and-forth texting.
“He was obviously going through something in his head,” he stated.
Jay then made the decision to head out and return to his friends Brad Hargreaves and Lucy Law, who were lodging at a hotel close to the Tenerife strip.
Qassim claims that after talking to a neighbor, Jay decided to take a bus instead of accepting his offer of a lift.
“You have no idea what’s going through your mind when someone tells you they just want to leave. They simply want to leave,” he continued.
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“I won’t say, ‘You’re staying, you’re not going.'” Just wondering if you’re okay sitting on the bus stop.
In 2015, Qassim was sentenced to nine years in prison for his involvement as the head of a London-based gang that dealt crack cocaine and heroin in Cardiff.
Timeline of the tragic case
After weeks of suffering for the teen’s friends and family, with many questions yet unanswered, JAY’S body was eventually discovered. This is how it happened.
At the Papagayo nightclub in Playa de la Americas, Tenerife, on Sunday, June 16, Jay and his friends celebrate the final day of the NRG music festival.
June 17 from 3-6 am: Jay departs with Ayub Qassim and another man for a forty-dollar Airbnb stay in the village of Masca, which is twenty-three kilometers away.
7.30am: Jay posts a picture of herself standing in the Airbnb doorway on Snapchat.
8.50am: He phones his friend Lucy Mae Law and reports that he is stranded in the middle of nowhere, without water, with a wound on his leg, and that his phone is only 1% charged.
Pals explore the region on Tuesday, June 18, but Jay is nowhere to be found. Official search is launched by local police and mountain rescue crews. Debbie Duncan, Jay’s mother, takes a plane to Tenerife.
June 19–20: Despite using dogs, drones, and a helicopter, Spanish police are unable to locate any evidence. A probable sighting prompts the search to shift to Los Cristianos, but it is ruled out and
They go back to Rural de Teno, which is close to Masca.
June 21: Lancashire Police provide assistance, but it is turned down.
June 22: Jay receives an emotional plea from Mom Debbie, who says, “We just need you home.”
June 24: There have been reports of Jay being sighted in Santiago del Teide, close to where he vanished, and his family thinks a grainy CCTV footage may be of him.
June 25: As more friends depart and TV investigator Mark Williams-Thomas joins the search, Debbie makes a plea for her son to return home.
June 29: The police declare Mr. Qassim and another Airbnb employee not under investigation.
June 30: Officially ending the hunt, Spanish police claim the investigation is still ongoing. His family is still looking.
July 15: A search team using a helicopter finds a body near the location where the person’s phone last rang. Human remains are found near to his belongings. According to Spanish police, it suggests an unintentional fall.
August 5: Authorities in Tenerife confirm that the body discovered in the island’s mountainous region is that of Jay.
August 10: Hundreds of people attend Jay’s burial at Accrington Crematorium in Lancs to pay tribute to the “one of a kind” teenager.
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