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A man who had his “skull split open” in a machete attack carried out by a gang including Jay Slater has broken his silence on the desperate search for the teenager who vanished in Tenerife.
The missing 19-year-old was part of a group of eight people who attacked Tom Hilton, then 17, with a machete, golf clubs and an axe in Rishton, Lancashire, in 2021.
The apprentice bricklayer, from Oswaldtwistle, was handed an 18-month community order with 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work for his role in the violent disorder.
He then went on holiday to Tenerife after completing most of his sentence. Many online trolls had been reporting his role in the attack, and labelling his disappearance as “karma”.
But on Facebook, the gang’s victim Tom Hilton stood up for Mr Slater.
In a now-deleted post, he said: “Whoever is writing on these TikToks, give it a rest. This young lad’s missing and his family’s heartbroken.
“Put yourself in their shoes. Stop talking nonsense on social and get this lad found, mentioning my name all this and that. Have some respect and help find this boy and get him back to his family.”
Mr Hilton had been left with parts of his skull exposed as well as serious wounds to his shoulders and legs, with the defendants laughing and joking with each other in Preston Crown Court.
A judge at the time described the gang as acting like a “pack of wolves”, forcing their teenage victim to run for his life through nearby woods.
El Dia, a local newspaper for the Canary Islands, ran a story with the headline: “The past of the young British man who disappeared in Tenerife. Slater beat up a teenager along with seven other people.”
As the search for Mr Slater continues into its second week the paper highlighted the attack as a “black mark in his past”.
Conspiracy theories have spread on social media after his mother Debbie Duncan reported receiving a Snapchat message, which warned: “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”
She was forced to hit out at criticism of a fundraising page set up which has raised its target of £30,000 to help the desperate search for her son, warning: “This may happen to you.”
Ms Duncan said she has “not slept” since the 19-year-old disappeared.
She added: “I really am saddened by all your comments. You seem to be so bothered about this GoFundMe page.
“I really hope I am not taking my son home in a body bag.
“The funds are not released and won’t be if not needed.
“I really cannot believe the British public are not supporting me in trying to find Jay. This may happen to any of you one day. Very let down by you all.”
Source: independent.co.uk
