JAY Slater’s mum said the teenager was “guilty by association” over an attack that left him with a conviction.
Critics of Jay and his family have recirculated online stories about the 19-year-old’s involvement in an assault on a 17-year-old in 2021.
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Victim Tom Hilton was left with a head wound after he was attacked by a group of youngsters with weapons, including a golf club and axe in Rishton, Lancs.
Tom spoke out after Jay went missing on June 17 – urging trolls to leave his family alone and allow them to focus on the search.
Jay’s mum Debbie Duncan said Jay did not harm Tom, but was convicted of violent disorder after witnessing the assault.
Debbie, 56, told The Sun: “They used to go up to woods and into this old paper mill, five minutes away.
“This one night there was an incident where there were probably a couple of hundred people there.
“A lad, who was older, got attacked by what he described as 20 kids.
“They were appealing for witnesses, and I said to Jay, I think you should go and do a statement.
“So I took him myself to Blackburn, Greenbank Police Station.
“And he gave his version of events, which that Tom was already on the ground when he saw it and he was at the back.
“I didn’t think anything of it, but the following April, a letter came through saying that Jay was being charged with violent disorder.
“Jay attended the trial and Tom stood up in court and said that he didn’t remember much about it.
“But Jay was kind of found guilty by association, and I don’t think he struck a blow or harmed Tom.
“I would just say that loads of kids get into trouble when they’re younger.
“There’s grown men – dads, granddads, who get done for violent disorder for a fight that breaks out, say, outside a football stadium most weekends.
“But because Jay’s in the limelight, they just want to say every bad thing that they can say about him.
“But they don’t know Jay and are dragging up all things that they don’t even know about.
“They don’t know his background and his upbringing with a loving family.
“He was a lovely boy and wasn’t a bad person.
“I had Snapchat so I could communicate with him.
“He had a French bulldog, Buster, and he would be sending me Snaps when he was out with the dog.”
They don’t know his background and his upbringing with a loving family. He was a lovely boy and wasn’t a bad person
Debbie Duncan
After Jay disappeared – and even since his body was found 29 days later on July 15 – trolls have relentlessly targeted his grieving family.
Their suffering has also been made worse by sick ghouls who have peddled vicious claims on social media.
Among the wild accusations were that Jay had stolen a £12,000 watch from a gangster during his fateful night out or fallen foul of a drug cartel.
But Debbie insisted the claims are nothing more than callous rumours.
She said: “He would never have been involved in anything like that.
“He had only been in Tenerife three days – and was at a festival with friends which had wristbands, security and an itinerary.
“I’ve no idea where these drug stories have come from and the stuff about him stealing a watch is nonsense.”
Debbie slammed trolls who have been hounding her family and spreading nasty comments and baseless claims on platforms such as TikTok and Facebook.
She added: “The people saying stuff about him didn’t know Jay and they don’t know us.
“He hasn’t been here to defend himself against all these horrible stories that were going on around the world about him.”
Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral of Jay, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancs at Accrington Crematorium on Saturday, August 10.
Funeral director Sarah Barton, who officiated the service, told the congregation how “Jay touched the lives of so many people”.