7 July 2024, 11:59 | Updated: 7 July 2024, 13:08
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A 31-year-old British man who took Jay Slater back to his remote Airbnb before he vanished has revealed new details about his final hours with the teen.
The 19-year-old, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, has been missing in Tenerife since June 17. He had travelled to the Canary Islands for a weekend music festival with two friends when he disappeared.
Jay attended the ‘New Rave Generation’ (NRG) festival, but chose to stay behind with two men he had met instead of returning to where he was staying.
Ayub Qassim was with Jay just before he disappeared, after inviting the teen back to his Airbnb.
He had earlier insisted that Jay left the holiday rental alive, adding that he “hadn’t even done anything”.
Read more: Jay Slater’s dad breaks silence with heartbreaking question about whereabouts of missing teenage son
Read more: Jay Slater’s mother reveals how she will use £48,000 crowdfunder to support TikTok sleuths in search for missing son
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Now he has spoken out in more detail about his time with Jay in an interview with detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who relayed the conversation to MailOnline.
Mr Qassim said that Jay decided to get a bus back to where he was staying, despite him offering a lift back in his car.
He also said that an unidentified woman had told him there was a bus every ten minutes – but Mr Qassim had told him there was no bus.
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Mr Williams-Thomas told the paper: “In the last 24 hours I have spoken in detail with Ayub Qassim, who is also known as Jonny Vegas.
“He told me he was on the (Veronicas) Strip in Playa de las Americas and said that Jay wanted to carry on partying and that he hadn’t anywhere to stay, so he (Qassim) invited him back to his rental.
“In the car they played music all the way, they stopped once to get a can of fizzy drink, and there was three of them in the car, Jay in the back and Qassim’s friend in the front.
“Once at the property, his friend opened the door, and went to the left and went straight to sleep.
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“Jay walked in, and Qassim walked in behind him, went upstairs, and got him a red blanket.”
“Qassim said ‘Yo bro, the sofa’s for you there’ and he gave him a towel if he needed a shower.
“Jay also asked for a cigarette and Qassim gave him a Camel cigarette and left it on the side. Jay then asked for a charger and then went into Qassim’s friend room, while he was sleeping and got the charger.”
“Qassim opened the door and spoke to a woman and man and they told, him to move his car, which he did and he said he could see Jay chatting to a woman.
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“He said that after moving the car, he came back and saw Jay had his trainers on and he told Qassim that the woman had said he could get a bus ‘every ten minutes’.
“Qassim said to him “Chill, mate, I’ll drop you off later, when I wake up’ but he said Jay said ‘nah, I need some scran, I’m hungry”
“Jay said he had been told by the woman the bus to Los Cristianos was every ten minutes and Qassim said there was no bus and added “Do what you like’ before going to sleep.”
Earlier, Mr Qassim said: “The only comment I have to make is that Jay came to the house alive, and he left the house alive.
“I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him. I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them.
“I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.”
The 31-year-old is understood to have returned to his family home in London.
He said he did not have an argument with Jay and had even given him a blanket to sleep in.
He continued: “If I’d fallen out with him would he even come to mine?
“There were no problems. You’ve seen the last images of him with his red blanket around him.
“I don’t know if he had beef elsewhere because I don’t know him that well, I only know him through friends.”
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It comes after Jay’s father, Warren Slater, revealed he is “baffled” by the disappearance.
“Why did two grown men take a young boy to a valley to a bed and breakfast?” he told the Sun.
He said: “You just don’t disappear. It’s just ridiculous that somebody can just disappear.
“He’s a young boy, he’s fit. He’s fitter than us all put together. He’s played football all his life, he’s fit as a flea.
“You just don’t disappear. I don’t know… it’s just a mystery… it’s baffling.”
The father of the 19-year-old spoke just hours after it was claimed Jay was scared when leaving the remote holiday rental in the village of Masca – 20 miles from his accommodation.
He allegedly told pals he couldn’t return to it.
After weeks of Spanish police hunting for the teen, his mother confirmed on Tuesday that the land search had been called off.
Debbie Duncan said “words cannot describe the pain and agony we are experiencing”.
She thanked the Guardia Civil, who she said had “worked tirelessly up in the mountains where Jay’s last phone call was traced”.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
