Walter Finch
THE Brit who rented the Airbnb missing teenager Jay Slater, 19, went to before he vanished in Tenerife has broken his silence.
Ayub Qassim, 31, confirmed to MailOnline that Jay had stayed at his Airbnb rental, Casa Abuela Tina, near Masca, on the night of June 17 before his mysterious disappearance.
Qassim, who was sentenced to 9 years in jail in 2015 for ‘flooding Wales with drugs’, said: “Jay came to the house alive and left the house alive.”
According to Qassim, Jay arrived at the €40-a-night Airbnb in the early morning after attending a three day rave in the tourist hotspot of Playa de las Americas.
However, he denied any arguments occurred between them and says he even offered Jay a blanket.
“I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them,” Qassim said.
“I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.
“I don’t know if he had beef elsewhere because I don’t know him that well, I only know him through friends.”
A Snapchat image sent by Jay at 7:30am shows him on the doorstep of the cottage.
Spanish police investigating the disappearance have spoken to Qassim and his companion, only as ‘Johnny Vegas’, during their time in Tenerife.
However, authorities have indicated the men are not considered relevant to the investigation.
Both men remained on the island an extra day after Jay’s disappearance to cooperate with inquiries.
It was reported yesterday that Slater ‘fled’ the Airbnb ‘after admitting to stealing a €14,000 Rolex’.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas has alleged the 19-year-old was ‘scared’ to return to the Airbnb, despite having almost no phone battery.
The apprentice bricklayer had been partying before travelling north to the holiday let in Masca.
During the hour-long drive, Jay reportedly posted a Snapchat claiming that he had taken a €14,000 Rolex from an unknown person.
According to Williams-Thomas, Spanish police had been investigating this line of inquiry, examining security cameras and speaking to witnesses.
They claimed a fight broke out in the Papagayo Beach Club in the early morning of June 17 after a ‘burly’ Eastern European man complained his watch was stolen.
Mark said: “Friends of Jay said he would not make this up and the watch was subject of later conversation between them.”
Jay had reportedly contacted friends multiple times while staying at the Airbnb, called Casa Abuela Tina.
He sent them a Snapchat at around 7:30 am while holding a cigarette outside the building.
Then, Jay was seen at about 08:00 am by the Airbnb host after missing a bus back to his accommodation on the south of the island.
They informed Jay there would be another bus in two hours but Jay instead set off on the 11 hour walk back to his friends.
The Casa Abuela Tina owner claims she then saw him walking off into the vast mountains surrounding Masca village.
Williams-Thomas, who has worked on many high profile cases, says Jay messaged at least three friends while on his way home to tell them he was lost.
At about 8.50am he made a desperate call to friend Lucy, saying he was lost in the ‘middle of nowhere’, with no water and only one percent phone battery.
