English teenager Jay Slater who went missing in Tenerife last summer sparking a huge search, died by accident after falling from a height, a coroner at his inquest has concluded.
He had told his friends he was "in the middle of the mountains" and in need of a drink, as he attempted a 14-hour walk home the morning after taking drugs and alcohol on a night out, Preston Coroner's Court has heard.
Mr Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was holidaying in Tenerife and had been to the NRG music festival with friends at the Papagayo nightclub in the resort of Playa de las Americas, on 16 June last year.
But he vanished the next morning after going with two men to an Airbnb in Masca, a village in the mountains miles from his holiday apartment in Los Cristianos.
A huge search was launched before his body was found in a steep and inaccessible area, by a mountain rescue team from the Spanish Civil Guard, near the village of Masca, on 15 July.
He had been reported missing on 18 June.
The inquest heard his phone battery had died and he needed a drink but had no water as he set off on the 14-hour walk home in the early morning.
As temperatures grew he left the road and ended up in the ravine, where his body was found having suffered severe head injuries from a fall.
Coroner said no one else involved in death
Concluding a two-day inquest into his death, Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen, said: "Jay fell at a particularly dangerous area in difficult terrain."
"He fell approximately 20 to 25 metres, suffering skull fractures and brain trauma from which he would have died instantaneously. Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death.
Dr Adeley said contributing factors to the fall may have been a lack of suitable clothing, sleep and mountain training, as well as potential after effects of drugs he had consumed.
Friends concerned about him
He noted that on the night of 16 June and afterwards, there was "every indication" that Mr Slater's friends who were accompanying him on the holiday were concerned about him, tried to find him and look after his welfare
"This is a tragic death of a young man," he said.
Dr Adeley said the evidence showed there was no one else involved in the death and no evidence to suggest Mr Slater had been threatened, assaulted, was under duress or in fear for his safety.
The coroner told Mr Slater's family sat in court that he hoped the "examination of facts rather than conjecture" during the hearing had been some consolation to them.
Mr Slater's tearful mother, Debbie Duncan, had earlier given a tribute to her son at the hearing today, saying: "He was very loved and our hearts are broken," Ms Duncan said.
"Our lives will never be the same without Jay in it."
