Victim of machete attack on Jay Slater attacks internet trolls and calls on them to help find the teenager

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A man whose skull was split in a machete attack by a gang including Jay Slater has broken his silence on the desperate search for the teenager who disappeared 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 bricklayer’s apprentice from Oswaldtwistle was given an 18-month community sentence with 25 days’ rehabilitation activity and 150 hours’ unpaid work for his role in the violent disturbances.

After serving most of his sentence, he went on holiday to Tenerife. Many online trolls reported on his role in the attack and described his disappearance as “karma”.

But on Facebook, the gang’s victim, Tom Hilton, spoke out in support of Mr Slater.

In a now-deleted post, he said: “Whoever is posting on these TikToks, stop. This young man is missed and his family is heartbroken.”

“Put yourself in their shoes. Stop talking nonsense on social media and make sure this boy is found, mentioning my name and all that. Have some respect and help find this boy and bring him back to his family.”

Mr Hilton was left with part of his skull exposed and suffered severe wounds to his shoulders and legs. The defendants laughed and joked outside Preston Crown Court.

A judge described the gang at the time as a “pack of wolves” that forced its teenage victim to run for his life through the nearby forest.

El Dia, a local newspaper in the Canary Islands, carried an article with the headline: “The past of the young Briton who disappeared in Tenerife. Slater beat up a teenager and seven other people.”

As the manhunt for Mr Slater enters its second week, the newspaper highlighted the attack as a “black mark on his past”.

Conspiracy theories circulated on social media after his mother, Debbie Duncan, reported receiving a Snapchat message that read: “Kiss your boy goodbye, you’ll never see him again, he owes me a lot of money.”

She was forced to criticise a fundraising page that had reached its £30,000 target to support the desperate search for her son, warning: “This could happen to you.”

Ms Duncan said she had “not slept” since the 19-year-old disappeared.

She added: “Your comments really make me sad. This GoFundMe page seems to bother you so much.

“I really hope I don’t have to bring my son home in a body bag.

“The funds will not be released and will not be released if they are not needed.

“I really can’t believe that the British public are not supporting me in my attempt to find Jay. This could happen to any of you one day. You are all very disappointed.”