Speaking to MailOnline, Qassim said that Jay “came to the house alive, and he left the house alive.”
He added: “I let the geezer stay at mine because he had nowhere else to go, his friends had all left him.
“I know Jay, through friends, I’m not going to bring someone back to mine if I don’t know them. I’m doing the geezer a favour and now my face is all over the news. It’s a bit mental. I haven’t even done anything.”
Qassim dismissed any suggestion that there was an issue between him and Jay, adding: “If I’d fallen out with him would he even come to mine? There were no problems. You’ve seen the last images of him with his red blanket around him.
“I don’t know if he had beef elsewhere because I don’t know him that well, I only know him through friends.”
He also confirmed that he has not spoken to TV detective Mark Williams-Thomas, who has gone out to Tenerife to investigate.
Qassim added: “I’ve spoken to the Spanish police and they’ve told me not to speak to anyone which is why I’ve been quiet.
“I’ve not spoken to Mark Williams-Thomas or anyone like him because he doesn’t have any jurisdiction in Tenerife, and I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Asked how well he knew Jay, he added: “Everyone knows each other. I’m not going to slander anyone. He’s a cool guy, Jay. He ain’t got a problem with me, I haven’t got a problem with him or his mates. We just all talk to each other and everything was sweet.”
The owner of the Airbnb where Jay stayed – which is an 11-hour walk from his accommodation – said she saw Jay set off on foot early the next day after he had missed his bus back.
