The 19-year-old vanished while partying on the island of Tenerife 15 months ago, sparking a social media frenzy and a flurry of conspiracy theories when his criminal past was unearthed
The heartbroken family of Jay Slater insist he did not strike anybody as they addressed his involvement in a machete attack. Jay was one of eight teenagers sentenced for violent disorder for a “cowardly” attack on a 17-year-old boy.
Victim Tom Hilton suffered a split skull when he was attacked by a gang of youths with weapons, including a machete, golf club and axe in Rishton, Lancs., 2021. He told a court he was forced to run for his life through before he was set upon by the gang.
Jay’s conviction fuelled a flurry of conspiracy theories among armchair detectives and online trolls when it was unearthed during last summer’s search for the apprentice bricklayer, who vanished while partying with pals in Tenerife.
Speaking on a documentary which aired on Sunday night, Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan said: “These people who were big on social media googled his name. Three years ago, Jay was part of a trial of eight people where this lad had got a gash to the back of his head.”
Jay’s uncle Glen Duncan said: “The machete incident, a big gang of all of them got together in a disused warehouse. Somebody’s been attacked, and apparently, this whole group of people had weapons. He was there, he’s admitted he was there.
“People’s perception changes then. He was just a normal lad on holiday who has gone missing, then they dig his past up and he’s a machete wielding maniac.
“If somebody was asked the question, did you see Jay strike the person? No – he was never that type of lad. He was just guilty by association because he was just part of a crowd.”
Tearful Debbie begged armchair detectives to let her son rest in peace in the The Disappearance of Jay Slater, which aired on channel 4, as she told how misinformation and speculation hampered the investigation into his disappearance.
She previously told a local newspaper it was her who told Jay to give a statement to cops as they appealled for witnesses after the gang attack. She said: “I didn’t think anything of it, but the following April, a letter came through saying Jay was being charged with violent disorder.
“Jay attended the trial, and Tom stood up in court and said he didn’t remember much about it. But Jay was kind of found guilty by association, and I don’t think he struck a blow or harmed Tom.”
Debbie, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancs., told the Channel 4 show how social media posts claiming her son had been murdered made her life hell. She said: “I will never ever understand why some social media detectives were totally destroying people’s lives.
“It has been torture, absolute torture. The YouTubers, the TikTokkers – they have made this situation a million times worse.”
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