THE man who was the last to see Jay Slater alive has married a drug mule who smuggled £13million worth of cannabis into the UK.
Ayub Qassim, now 33, invited Jay, 19, back to a remote Airbnb after a night of partying in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife.
But making his way back on foot the next morning, Jay died accidentally after falling from height in the Spanish holiday island’s remote mountains.
Qassim said he had warned Jay there weren’t regular buses in the area and offered to drop him back later in the day, but claimed the teen said he wanted to go as his friends were waiting for him.
The four-week hunt for the apprentice bricklayer gripped the nation in 2024.
Qassim, himself a convicted drug dealer, has now married Paige Crisp, 24, who was convicted last week for her part in smuggling vast amounts of cannabis into the UK in 22 suitcases.
The pair wed in Thailand last year, the country from which Crisp’s gang smuggled their drugs, the Daily Mail reported.
Single mum Crisp, from Malvern, Worcestershire, was convicted of helping traffic the drugs to the UK with 10 other Brits.
The gang were busted by Border Force at Birmingham Airport who found a huge 460kg haul of drugs in the group’s luggage.
They had travelled from Thailand via Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, the court heard.
Crisp, a cleaner, was convicted of attempting to carry, remove, deposit, harbour, keep, conceal and deal Class B drugs.
Her gang had hidden the vacuum-packed drugs under a thin layer of clothing, paying extra charges to transport so many bags.
Crisp’s husband Qassim was sentenced to nine years and nine months in jail in 2015 for leading a London-based gang who imported heroin and crack cocaine to Cardiff.
The couple posted a series of loved-up photos on social media, with Qassim captioning one: “I never knew how powerful love was until it came to me, in the form of you.”
In another image, Crisp appears to be dressed for a wedding, with traditional henna tattoos adorning the backs of her hands.
A YouTube video shows her in the same traditional dress and Qassim dressed in a white robe.
Drug gang ringleader Qassim told Preston Coroner’s Court that Jay had come back with him and Steven Roccas after a rave.
He said he warned the teen about the hour-long drive to the Airbnb.
He told the court: “I did say, ‘Bro, oh mate, it’s so far away from the strip, there’s nothing happening there other than scenery’.
“I said I would drop him off in the morning. He rolled with us.’
A photo showed Jay beaming in the backseat of the car that night, sat behind Steven Roccas who was asleep in the front.
Roccas was called up to give evidence at the inquest, but efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.
Qassim said he believed Jay wanted to go back with him and Roccas as he thought they would be staying up drinking.
When they arrived at the Airbnb, Roccas was asleep and after bring woken up by Qassim went straight to bed.
Qassim told the hearing that Jay asked for a charger and that he left him downstairs with a blanket, towel and cigarettes before heading to bed himself.
Less than an hour later, he said he was woken up by the sound of the door being buzzed by three people, who asked him to move his car.
After moving his car, Qassim said Jay was walking out of the Airbnb and told him he was going to catch a bus back to his apartment.
Qassim said he warned Jay there weren’t regular buses in the area, and offered to drop him back later in the day.
But Jay said he wanted to go as his friends were waiting for him.
Asked by the coroner whether Jay was still under the influence of drink and drugs when he moved his car, Qassim said he thinks he would have been and insisted there was no “altercation” between them.
He said: “I looked at him and I seen he was sweet, so it’s like, sound innit. What could I have done? I’m not gonna say, ‘Stay here now’.
“I just said, ‘If you need me I’m here’. I shut the door to go back upstairs to sleep.”
Concluding Jay’s inquest, Dr James Adeley determined the teenager’s death was accidental after a fall from height.
The coroner said: “Whilst attempting to descend the ravine, Jay fell in a difficult area.
“Jay Slater fell approximately 20 to 25 metres resulting in skull fracture and brain trauma from which he would have died instantly.
“There was no third party involved. Jay Dean Slater died an accidental death.”
