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3 months ago
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JAY Slater’s devastated mum has told of her horrific ordeal at the hands of vile trolls targeting her over the teen’s tragic disappearance and death.
Grief-stricken Debbie Duncan, 56, wept as she revealed she had been sent thousands of messages, pictures and videos – including disgusting mock-ups of her son being tortured.
Louis Wood
Louis Wood
Louis Wood
Louis Wood
Louis Wood
Louis WoodBrave Debbie told The Sun in an exclusive interview how the trolling started as soon as she arrived in Tenerife after Jay, 19, went missing on June 17.
And she revealed she had even been sent a sick hand-written letter last week – criticising her for organising her son’s funeral.
Debbie has reported some messages to police – and has vowed to campaign for tougher laws on trolling.
Apprentice bricklayer Jay, 19, vanished on June 17 after a night out at with friends at a festival in Tenerife.
His remains were found in a ravine in the Rural de Teno park in Tenerife on July 15 after a four-week search.
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancs at Accrington Crematorium on Saturday, August 10.
And – sitting alongside son Zak, 24 – in her first interview since Jay’s death, Debbie said: “I don’t even have the words to describe how sick these individuals are.
“I have been terrorised by trolls.
“I have tried to block it out but you can’t
“However, if I had paid attention to all of them I’d be in a padded cell.”
Anguished Debbie received a phone call from Jay’s friend Lucy Mae Law, 18, on the afternoon of June 17, telling her that he had gone missing.
Jay’s dad Warren Slater, 58 – who later joined the desperate search – drove Debbie and Zak, 24, to Manchester Airport and they jetted to Tenerife.
But a relative of Lucy had posted a ‘missing poster’ of Jay on Facebook on the day he vanished – and included Debbie’s number on the appeal in a well-meaning act that was to have devastating consequences.
It meant Debbie’s number – which she needed in case there was news about Jay – was circulated and fell into the hands of vile trolls.
In her first interview since Jay’s death, Debbie told The Sun…
- She received a vile letter from a troll just days after her Jay’s funeral
- How Jay really got caught up in ‘gang attack’ that landed him with conviction
- She ‘just screamed’ when cops found her son’s body
- She denies rumours Jay stole £12k watch & fell foul of Tenerife drug cartel
- Jay was ‘popular lad’ who didn’t deserve trolls’ abuse
And when she and Zak touched down in Tenerife, Debbie’s phone pinged with the first sick message about her son.
Debbie said: “The first message said, ‘you’ll never see your boy again – he owes me all this money’.
“And I thought, well, what is going on here? We’ve only just arrived in Tenerife – what the hell?”
The message was the first of thousands that Debbie and her family were subjected to – as keyboard abusers added their misery as they desperately searched for Jay.
False accusations over GoFundMe
JAY’S family have been plagued by false accusations they have ‘stolen’ money from a GoFundMe appeal for him.
But it was set up by Jay’s friend, Lucy – and Debbie did not know anything about it until the fund was already established.
And she has been in regular contact with a liaison officer at GoFundMe to outline what money has been used for.
Debbie – whose family turned to search teams in their desperation including private Dutch firm Signi Zoekhonden – had not heard of GoFundMe before the page was set up.
She said: “I did not know anything about GoFundMe and did not know what it was.
“We were only told about it by Lucy when we were at the police station.
“We have had all these people slagging me off about a GoFundMe that I didn’t ask for.
“I said, so I don’t want to use it and didn’t want to touch it.
“The only things it’s been used for are some accommodation costs, the dog team that came over – and some repatriation costs which are still ongoing.
“I have been speaking to GoFundMe me virtually every day and they have been amazing and so supportive.
“They know the money has not been misused – and have been telling me I don’t have to explain what every last penny has been used for.”
Ghouls and conspiracy theorists flocked to social media sites including TikTok, Facebook and Instagram where they spread false information about the teen.
The search was plagued by false sightings of Jay – including him ‘watching’ an England match in Santiago del Teide, Tenerife; in a Sainsbury’s in Basingstoke, Hants and on the Eurostar.
Cranks peddled false theories including that Jay had fallen foul of a drugs cartel and had taken a yacht to Morocco.
Trolls also made mocked-up pictures and videos of Jay being held captive and tortured and of his ‘body’ being buried on a beach.
And they falsely accused school assistant Debbie of misusing money from a GoFundMe account which Lucy had set up.
Fighting back tears, Debbie said: “The first week was all a blur. I was in a hotel room in Tenerife and looking for Jay – and I was getting terrorised by trolls.
“There were calls with people saying ‘we know where Jay is, he’s done this, he’s done that.
“Some were from people screaming Jay’s name or saying he had been stabbed on a beach.
“And, oh, my God, the stories, they were just unreal. Absolutely unreal.
“People were saying, ‘He’s in a hole, he’s chained up.’
Louis Wood
Ian Whittaker
Louis Wood
Ian Whittaker
Louis Wood“It was just disgusting, absolutely disgusting. I wouldn’t wish it upon anybody, the torment that I’ve had to go through, and that I’m still going through.”
As she and Zak spoke to The Sun, Debbie – clearly a loving mum who told of her “special bond” with Jay – broke down in tears on several occasions as she bravely outlined her horrific ordeal.
And she admitted that she and her family were “sucked into” some conspiracy theories – as they desperately clung to the hope that Jay was alive.
In a heart-breaking admission, Debbie said: “I wanted to believe that he’d been chained up – because at least that way I knew that he would still be breathing somewhere.
“I wanted to believe he’d been kidnapped and he was being held, because I thought, well, that would mean he’s alive somewhere.
“You know, anything.
“As horrible as it was, I just thought, well, he might be breathing somewhere.
“We were sucked into it.”
But Debbie – who had found Jay’s passport and travel money in his apartment on arrival in Tenerife – knew he would not be abroad or elsewhere in Tenerife without telling her.
She said: “I had his passport with me and the idea that Jay would be watching the Euros in a bar was ridiculous. He would never do that without telling me – he loved his family and I don’t remember a time he was uncontactable.”
As she outlined her harrowing experience, Debbie showed us vile pictures she was sent.
One – saying ‘We have your son’ – shows a photo-shopped picture of ‘Jay’ with a chain around his neck and a gash under one eye.
A video said to be of Jay being beaten by captors was probed by Spanish police – and revealed to have been taken in Russia 10 years ago.
And Debbie received one message, saying: “I’ll give you one warning your son won’t be coming back he owes us enough f***ing money kiss goodbye to him.”
Instagram
Ian Whittaker
Ian Whittaker
Doug SeeburgShe added: “There’s a video of somebody digging a hole on the beach, and it looks like they’ve dragged a body into this hole. People were saying it’s Jay.
“Honestly, you just wouldn’t believe the stuff that we got sent.
“I can’t even describe the kind of human beings that they are, really.
“To sit and go through to all that trouble, all that effort, to just rip me apart by trying to say that – it’s disgusting it really is.
“We’ve had a lot from people with northern accents – we’re from the north of England and all you’re doing is just throwing abuse at this family who you know nothing about.
“They should be supporting us.”
During the search, trolls posted false theories – on sites about Jay on Facebook – and contacted Debbie and Zak on Instagram.
Steel industry worker Zak was sent one message on Instagram which said: “If Jay Slater is your brother you will never find him where he’s buried.”
When he looked into the account that had sent it, it was from a Ukrainian soldier fighting in the country’s war with Russia.
Zak said: “It was unbelievable and so sick.”
Most of the messages were from anonymous hoaxers – but Debbie and Zak have compiled several pages of numbers from people who did not hide them.
They came mostly from Britain – but the family also had contact from people in Spain, Australia, Germany and America.
Police have said they will investigate one message from a 15-year-old Brit who contacted Debbie to claim he had killed Jay.
And Debbie was sent a hand-written letter last week from an anonymous writer in Birmingham.
Although it was not addressed to her correctly her postman – a family friend – delivered it in good faith thinking it was a card from a well-wisher.
Zenpix
Zenpix
Jay’s family continue to be plagued by cruel trollsPAInstead, the person – writing after Jay’s funeral – said: “Why bother to go to all the fuss?” They added that they had brought up their children “properly” and made accusations about the GoFundMe donations.
Debbie said: “It’s absolutely disgusting. They know nothing about us, nothing about our family.
“That is the first time I’ve received something that somebody has actually sat and wrote about Jay in a letter.
“Of course they don’t have the courage to reveal who they are.
“I just really hope something bad happens to some of these nasty people. I really do.
“My home town is full of love but I am just destroyed by some of this nastiness.”
Distraught Debbie has now vowed to campaign for tougher action on trolling.
She said: “I won’t do it immediately as I am grieving.
“But it’s something that I would definitely like to pursue.
“I just don’t know how people can just get away with destroying people.
“People are still making money out of videos about Jay on TikTok – and it is just wrong.
“There needs to be tougher laws and social media companies should be doing more.”
English (US)