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Jay Slater's mother retraces his last steps in Channel 5 documentary Cause of Death

Debbie Duncan features in Channel 5's Cause of Death, airing 30 September at 9pm. She went to Tenerife with a pathologist to retrace her son Jay Slater's final hours, and says it brought her "more closure".

2 outlets · 1L · 1C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Daily Mirror
Image: BBC News

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The story, neutrally told

Debbie Duncan, the mother of Jay Slater, appears in the Channel 5 documentary Cause of Death, which airs at 9pm on 30 September. Jay, 19, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, went missing on 17 June 2024 after a music festival in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife, and was found dead after a 29-day search. In the programme Duncan returns to Tenerife, with Jay's uncle Glen Duncan according to the Mirror, to retrace his final steps, and she is joined by forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, who carried out Jay's UK post-mortem.

She told BBC Radio Lancashire the trip was "very tough and emotional" but gave her "more closure", and that seeing the terrain and timing his movements mattered to her. The Mirror reports that she asked whether Jay suffered, and that Shepherd said the head injury was so severe that death would have been immediate, with no pain or suffering. The Mirror says Shepherd described a fit young man who became confused and disorientated, having taken drugs and alcohol, though his alcohol level was not high.

Duncan also says she was haunted by images of Jay's body that Spanish police accidentally showed her when returning his phone, and that people still try calling it two years on. An inquest ruled Jay's death a tragic accident with no third-party involvement, after a fall in a "particularly dangerous area". Duncan hopes viewers "may well believe the facts" after the online conspiracy theories about his death, and she has campaigned for "Jay's Law" to require tech companies to take down misinformation.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left1 outlet

Framing
The Mirror leads on Duncan's personal grief: the phone that still gets calls, the distressing images of Jay's body, and her tearful question of whether he suffered.
Emphasis
Emotional detail from the documentary, the phone and its videos, and Shepherd's answer that Jay did not suffer.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention Jay's Law or Duncan's campaign against online trolling. It also does not give her comments on closure.
Charged language
“heartbroken”“tragic teenager”“vile conspiracy theories”“Brave Debbie”
For example
“Jay Slater’s mum broke down in tears in a new documentary where she retraced the tragic teenager’s final steps” — Daily Mirror

Centre1 outlet

Framing
BBC News frames it around Duncan's own words on Radio Lancashire: closure, her hope that people will accept the facts, and her campaign against misinformation.
Emphasis
The inquest finding, Jay's Law, trolling and conspiracy theories, and how the family is coping.
Leaves out or plays down
Leaves out the phone, the images of the body and the drug and alcohol detail from Shepherd.
Charged language
“the conspiracies were wild”“downright bullying”
For example
“Debbie Duncan went to Tenerife to trace her son Jay's final steps before his death in 2024.” — BBC News

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.