Jay Slater’s grieving mother has called for tighter laws to stop ‘armchair detectives’ spreading misinformation 15 months on from his tragic death.

Debbie Duncan, whose son Jay passed away on June 17 last year, is advocating for ‘Jay’s Law’, aimed at cracking down on those disseminating false information about missing persons online.

She wants to see the proposal debated in Parliament, and it has already been backed by her Labour MP Sarah Smith.

This initiative is in response to conspiracy theorists continuing to upload misleading videos about Jay, even after a coroner declared his death an ‘accidental death’ at the inquest held in July 2025. 

Ms Duncan, 57, told The Mirror it was ‘shocking’ that content creators are still milking his case by going over the same talking points to this day.

The grieving mother, who conceived Jay through IVF after facing difficulties, expressed her support for ‘freedom of speech’, but emphasized it should not extend to ‘spreading misinformation and speaking ill of a mourning family’.

Apprentice bricklayer Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was on holiday in Tenerife with two friends when he died. 

Jay Slater (pictured with his mother) died on June 17 last year after losing his way and falling from a height while attempting to return home from a night out in Tenerife 

Jay’s mother Debbie Duncan arrives at Preston Coroner’s Court in July 2025 for the inquest into Jay’s death

Despite a significant search operation, Jay was discovered dead near the village of Masca on July 15 – almost an hour’s drive from his apartment in Playa de las Americas 

It was his first vacation without his parents, and he had been enthusiastically attending the NRG music festival and Papagayo nightclub in Playa de Las Americas.

After the event died down, he got into a car with two men he’d met on the holiday and drove to an Airbnb in the village of Masca, about 20 miles away.

He later phoned his friend Lucy Law saying he was lost in the mountains and his other friend Bradley Geoghegan to tell them he was trekking home after missing a bus. 

When he failed to resurface, he was reported missing, which led to the case quickly capturing the attention of the British public and thousands across the world.

Before long, dozens of conspiracy theories about Jay’s whereabouts were posted online. 

Some of the theories posited that he had been kidnapped by drug dealers and murdered in the mountains after losing a bag of drugs, while others claimed he had staged his own death.

According to Ms Duncan, some conspiracy theorists even asked whether the right body had been buried after his funeral. 

Sarah Smith MP praised Ms Duncan for putting up with the abuse, but called upon tech companies to clean up their platforms to allow families compassion, privacy and protection.

Spanish police previously searched the Airbnb (pictured) where Jay Slater stayed just before he disappeared in Tenerife  

Jay Slater vanished after attempting to walk back to his lodging after missing a bus while staying with two men

Jay Slater’s close friend Lucy Law (right) received a phone call from her friend on the night he went missing

Jay’s friend Lucy Law gave evidence at the inquest into his death in July

Ms Dundan said she has reported some of the content creators to major platforms like Facebook and YouTube for misinformation, but she claims none of the posts were taken down.

Jay’s case has drawn comparison to the disappearance of mum-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, on January 27, 2023.

She too was the subject to unhinged conspiracy theories even after her body was found in the River Wyre on February 19. An inquest concluded she died from accidental drowning.

In the aftermath of Jay’s death, Ms Duncan is still struggling to come to terms with what has happened. 

She has left her job as a finance assistant at a local school where the family lived and has received private counselling sessions.

There have been days she doesn’t want to get up as she has been struggling with her mental health, according to the paper.

She still hasn’t unpacked Jay’s case from Tenerife, heartbreakingly admitting that she often opens it up, just to smell his clothes, before closing it back up again.

According to her, Jay ‘made some wrong decisions’ and she confesses there could have been so many different outcomes as to what happened that night.

Jay’s case has drawn comparison to the disappearance of mum-of-two Nicola Bulley (pictured), 45, on January 27, 2023

Despite a huge search effort, Jay was found dead close to the village of Masca on 15 July – nearly an hour’s drive from his apartment at Playa de las Americas. 

The inquest heard Jay had been drinking and taking drugs the night before, and told friends he planned to walk back to his hotel – even though he had no water and no phone battery left. 

The court heard analysis showed traces of drugs, including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy, along with alcohol, were found in Jay’s body.

Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said his post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as head injuries, and Jay’s body showed no evidence of restraint or assault, with the pattern of injuries consistent with a fall from a height.

Jay’s family hope to finally put the conspiracy theories to bed by speaking out ahead of a Candour Productions documentary for Channel 4 – The Disappearance of Jay Slater – which airs on Sunday, September 28 at 9pm. 

Ms Duncan, together with Jay’s father, Warren, 59, and older brother, Zak, 25, gave TV producers unprecedented access to Jay’s story by sharing highly personal home footage, as well as coverage from inside Jay’s funeral. 

Cameras were even allowed into his post-mortem. 

Warren hopes that by showing the t-shirt and trainers Jay wore the night he died, it will put an end to the cruel conspiracy theories that their son is still alive. 

Jay Slater’s father Warren (right) and brother Zak (left) both took part in the upcoming documentary about his death. Pictured in Tenerife while looking for Jay last year

Meta – the parent company of Facebook – along with TikTok and YouTube, have publicly available misinformation policies. 

Meta’s lengthy policy states that it will remove misinformation likely to ‘directly contribute’ to the risk of imminent physical harm or interference with the functioning of political processes. 

They partner with third party fact checking organisations – the same as TikTok – to check the accuracy of most viral content.

Their Community Standards also band fake accounts, fraud and coordinated inauthentic behaviour.

YouTube has a similar policy in place and states that ‘certain types of misleading or deceptive content with serious risk of egregious harm’ are not allowed on its platform.  

TikTok’s website states: ‘We don’t allow misinformation that could cause significant harm to individuals or society, no matter the intent of the person posting it.’