Jay Slater's mum responds as sick online trolls call her the 'new Karen Matthews'

Jay Slater's mum has spoken out against online trolls who are targeting her amid the search for her missing son.

In a series of abuse directed to the family from online trolls Debbie Duncan has been compared to Karen Matthews who hatched a sick plot to have her daughter kidnapped for ransom, The Mirror reports. Debbie is in Tenerife with the search now into its seventh day but she has not been able to bring herself to go to the location where Jay was last seen in the north west of the island.

She said: "People keep asking on social media 'why aren’t I up there?' and calling me the new Karen Matthews. I just can’t face it." Speaking from the hotel where the family are staying, Debbie added she is still waiting for more news from the police and heard nothing fresh on Saturday.

Read more: Missing Jay Slater search LIVE: Mum's plea as operation to find the UK teen goes into seventh day Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from the North East with our free newsletter

Debbie said: "I’m just exhausted. I’m still hopeful. I’m not feeling negative just yet. I know it’s five days. It’s not just that they’ve said absolutely not. I don’t know what it’s been like today because I’ve been advised to stay away because I would just break down.

"My boy might be just up there somewhere. We’re all devastated. He’s just a normal boy from a little town in Lancashire. These things don’t happen. I was in touch with him while he is in Tenerife. He was just holidaying away, he’d saved up and was looking forward to it. I’ve not slept for five days. My brain isn’t functioning well and I’m tired and exhausted."

Rachel Louise Harg, who is the administrator of an official Facebook page set up to help find Jay, said that people had been “hacking” the social media accounts of Jay’s family and were “sick in the head”. She pointed out on the Facebook page that the money from a GoFundMe fundraising page was going to the bank account of Jay’s mum and was being used for accommodation and food.

Nearly a dozen other GoFundMe pages have had to be shut down as suspected scams. The crowdfunding platform said it had removed a number of fundraisers, stating that efforts were ongoing to verify the identity of the organisers and confirm donations would go to Jay's family.

In a statement, a spokesperson told The Mirror: "Our hearts go out to Jay Slater, his family and everyone else concerned about his disappearance. All campaigns are under review and no money will be transferred unless we can verify it goes straight to his family. At moments like this, we often see people set up campaigns to benefit strangers when they are moved to help. That is why we work with organisers to ensure any money donated goes to the right place.

"GoFundMe has a dedicated Trust & Safety team reviewing all relevant fundraisers. In addition to the team of experts, we deploy proprietary technical tools and have multiple processes in place to verify the identity of organizers and the recipient of the fundraiser. Before money is transferred, an individual or organisation's information, including their banking information, must be verified."