How AI made Jay Slater investigation extremely difficult'
Jay Slater died in Tenerife
The coroner overseeing the inquest into the death of Jay Slater has revealed the difficulties faced in his investigation - one of which was contributed to by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Jay, 19, from Ostwaldwhistle, Lancs, went missing in Tenerife after flying out to the Canaries with two pals to attend the NRG music festival.
Following the event, apprentice bricklayer Jay opted to stay out while Brad and Lucy went back to the hotel.
Jay travelled to an Airbnb in Masca with two men, Ayub Qassim and Steven Roccas..
A few hours later, at around 8am on June 17, Jay left the holiday home and attempted to walk the 14 hours back to his hotel.
Tragically, Jay was never seen again, and around four weeks later his body was discovered at the bottom of a ravine following an extensive search and rescue operation.
An inquest into Jay's death began when his body was repatriated, as is required under coronial legislation, but the subsequent investigation was hampered by language barriers and problems finding key witnesses, Lancs Live reports.
Lancashire's Senior Coroner, Dr James Adeley, described some of the difficulties he faced when the inquest was resumed this week. These included the distinction between the focus of the Spanish investigation and his own.
"They are looking for criminality so their investigation has a completely different course," Dr Adeley explained during the hearing at Preston Coroner's Court.
"This has created problems with statements. Their statements are directed to a different interest."
Dr Adeley went on to reveal how Artificial Intelligence (AI) had also added a layer of complexity to the inquest.
He said: "There are further problems in that the initial statements were given in English, translated into Spanish and then we got the Spanish translated. AI has then had terrible problems translating it.
"Even then it's not perfect English. This has caused a considerable amount of difficulty."
This week's inquest only heard directly from one of Jay's friends; Josh Forshaw, who had met the group from Oswaldtwistle while queuing to board the plane at Manchester Airport.
Brad, Lucy, another friend called Brandon Hodgson, and the two men who had rented the Airbnb in Masca, were all either unavailable or had not accepted the witness summons.
The coroner added: "Statements have been coming in very late in the day. Investigating a death in a foreign country is always extremely difficult.
"In this case the Spanish authorities have tried to be as helpful as they can but we have difficulty in trying to locate various people. In cases where drugs are involved witnesses do not wish to speak to the authorities."
Jay's inquest isn't the first involving a death in Tenerife which has resulted in delays to the coronial system in the UK. Last May, Dr Adeley's colleague Kate Bisset described how her investigation into the death of Ed Walch had been "hampered" by the Spanish justice system.
Ed, 31, had been stabbed to death in Tenerife by fellow expat Jimmi Nicol in the early hours of May 6, 2021. It was more than three years later that his inquest could be held in the UK.
After Ed's body was repatriated to Preston, a coroner's investigation was launched. The final inquest, held last May, heard that the lengthy delay in concluding the investigation was due to the Spanish authorities.
Under UK coronial law, an inquest can only take place once a body is repatriated, and unlike with witnesses within our own jurisdiction, those abroad cannot be legally compelled to give evidence. This was yet another similarity noted in Jay's inquest with the coroner having to rely on statements due to several key witnesses being unavailable.
The inquest into Jay's death was adjourned this week after his parents asked the coroner to make further attempts to locate some of those witnesses. The hearing is expected to resume within the next month or two.