A FORMER Met detective has slammed online sleuths for speculating over the mysterious disappearance of Jay Slater.
Mark Williams-Thomas, on the ground in Tenerife, has insisted his theories about Jay being caught up in “criminal activity” are based on “fact”.
The former detective – who worked on the Madeleine McCann case – has been investigating Jay’s disappearance in Tenerife.
Mark has been in close contact with a number of witnesses including Jay’s family and friends.
He has shared updates on his findings via X, revealing how he believes the teen’s case has links to an “established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and thefts”.
Despite the fact that police have not yet linked any criminal activity to what happened to Jay, online sleuths have shared countless unfounded conspiracy theories online.
Jay’s family have been left distressed by the wild speculation and sometimes cruel jibes online.
Someone on X hit out at Mark on Monday, blasting him for sharing his investigation findings on social media.
Mark hit back: “Perhaps we should tell every police office to stop what they are doing and let every crime be solved by the internet detectives.
“It’s called speaking to witnesses and obtaining evidence.
“My post have confirmed facts – you are right some of the internet posts will be correct, but others are wild speculation.”
The ex-cop initially shared the first description of the two men Jay left a rave with in the hours before he vanished.
He yesterday revealed exactly what happened between them and Jay in the early hours of June 17 before he vanished.
Explaining his theory on criminal links, Mark said: “As part of this investigation we have sought to speak with all of the people Jay had contact with whilst in Tenerife.
“The result of this digging has opened up an established criminal network with links to drugs, violent crime and theft.
“At this stage I cannot expand any further on what we now know.
“I’m unable to say if this network has anything to do with Jay’s disappearance but remain open-minded as we continue to investigate.”
In a bombshell development he also told how Qassim is the same man so far known only as ‘Johnny Vegas’.
The investigator described Qassim’s version of events – including Jay’s insistence on leaving the Airbnb early despite the offer of a lift because he needed food.
Jay, 19, apparently told Qassim: “I’m hungry. I need to get a scran. And the woman told me I can get a bus every 10 minutes to Los Cristianos.”
Mark says that Ayub told him “no bus is coming”, and offered to drive him after taking a nap, but the teen left anyway.
Qassim confirmed he had spoken to the Spanish authorities in Tenerife but says he was told by foreign cops not to speak to anyone else.
This week he insisted he has “nothing to hide” and slammed Facebook detectives for screenshotting his Instagram.
The Sun previously revealed his connection to a legal cannabis cafe in Tenerife owned by his childhood friend, acclaimed drill rapper Potter Payper.
Former Met cop Mark has slammed false online speculation before, speaking out against a sick video circulating online, purporting to show Jay being beaten to death.
He quickly rubbished claims it showed the missing teen, as it was first posted on Russian social media almost a decade ago.
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
Monday July 8 marks three weeks since Jay Slater, a 19-year-old from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, vanished in Tenerife.
The apprentice bricklayer, who flew out to the popular holiday island for a rave festival with friends Lucy Law and Brad Page, has made headlines around the country.
On Sunday June 16 the three of them headed off to one of the events at Papagayo nightclub.
In the early hours of Monday 17 – Lucy and Brad were ready to head back to their hotel, but Jay wanted to keep partying.
It was then that he left the south of the island and headed to an Airbnb in the northwest with two British men.
The Sun revealed the identity of one of them – convicted drug dealer Ayub Qassim, who spent nine years behind bars in the UK.
For days it was thought that the second mystery man went by the name ‘Johnny Vegas’.
On Sunday former detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who is out in Tenerife investigating, said Qassim told him he is in fact the man behind the nickname ‘Johnny Vegas’.
We don’t yet know the identity of the second man – who remains a key part of the puzzle in Jay’s mysterious disappearance.
Qassim claims he drove Jay and the friend back to their accommodation and said they all went to sleep.
In the morning he offered to drive the teen back to the Los Cristianos resort after a nap, but Jay, hungry and tired, said he wanted to leave immediately.
Lucy, the last person to speak to Jay, claims she had a panicked call from him soon after he left the holiday let, telling her he was lost and thirsty, his phone was about to die and that he’d been cut by a cactus.
Jay had been seen by the owner of the Airbnb that morning wandering around near the Rural de Teno park – a mountainous region close-by.
He is believed to have been attempting the 11-hour trek back to his hotel, despite the alleged offer of a lift and more buses scheduled for the day.
It was there that his phone last pinged – and he hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
Mark Williams-Thomas has claimed he left the Airbnb quickly, and was “scared”.
Bizarrely, Qassim says he was woken up that morning by a phone call from an unnamed friend of Jay, saying he was “in a ditch” somewhere and had been “cut by a cactus”.
Jay’s friend Lucy claimed to have “tracked down” the two men in the Airbnb after he vanished – quizzing them on the morning of Jay’s disappearance.
Some reports have suggested Lucy knew the two men, although it is not clear how.
She has dubbed his disappearance “weird and suspicious”.
Both men were questioned by Spanish cops on June 17 but quickly deemed “irrelevant” to the investigation and cleared to fly back to the UK.
Police spent almost two weeks searching for Jay in the Tenerife mountains, scouring a 2,000ft ravine, before calling it off on Sunday June 30.
Jay’s family have repeatedly slammed the Spanish investigation into his bizarre disappearance.
His uncle, Glen Duncan, is convinced of “third party involvement”.
And the teen’s devastated dad, Warren Slater, says “everything stinks”
He told The Sun: “My starting position, I’ve said this from day one, ask the two men who’ve taken him – and then start from there.”
A number of unanswered questions remain, over why Jay would have travelled so far with two older men he didn’t know, why said men would have taken him in, and why he braved the Tenerife mountains with no phone battery, water or heat protection for a day-long walk.
