New TV documentary about mysterious death on British island to highlight 'inconsistencies' in case
Nearly a decade after her son's disappearance, a mother has spoken out about the "poignant" feeling she gets from a new documentary exploring his death. Josh Clayton, a bar manager, was found dead on rocks near Tresco in the Isles of Scilly days after he vanished post-party in September 2015.
Despite an inquest jury ruling it an accidental death, Tracey Clayton and her son Ashley Cox have always doubted the events of that night. Ashley Cox, aged 42, reflected on the significance of the documentary's timing to the PA news agency, noting that the 10-year anniversary likely sparked media interest due to the lack of answers over the decade. "It's poignant, isn't it? " Tracey Clayton remarked on the situation.
Ashley added, "It's poignant that we haven't had anything in 10 years, and we're still the same as where we were a year into it, really." In the trailer, Ashely can also be heard saying: "There are people who knew exactly what happened that night. Why were there inconsistencies in the story?"
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In the film titled The Last Party: Death On Tresco, Ashley returns to the island to retrace his brother's final steps, visiting places like The Shed, where Josh was last seen before his disappearance. He shared, "Going back to the island is something I said I would do. It's something I said I would like to do anyway, I think before they (production crew) mentioned about doing it."
He shared: "If you can imagine someone you love passing away in a certain place, then you would inevitably have some sort of pilgrimage, some sort of thing there to go there to remember them by. So I think there is that urge or pull to want to go there anyway, but also for me it was really important, because.. When we went there the first time (it) was in the immediate aftermath when Josh went missing, and we didn't find him when we were there."
He continued, "So there's a lot that we know, obviously, through the the inquest process and through all the investigation process and years subsequent that I felt it all the more important that I wanted to go back, not least of all I wanted to see the area of the Shed. I wanted to see the area really, really important to me was trying to really see the beach again and to see the entrances to the beach.
"Because when I was there, I didn't spend too much time on that side of the island. We spend a lot more time searching different parts of the island."
Adding to his heartfelt narrative, he said: "Just being there on the beach and feeling closer to it, knowing that this was really the last place that my brother was on terra firma, if you like, when he took his last breath, or whatever, and it was all poignant in that respect, just to soak it up and just try and feel that bit closer to it."
He concluded with a reflective note: "It was just weird. Because I haven't been there in 10 years, this whole thing feels like a movie but we just know the characters really well."
Revisiting the haunting site, Ms Clayton described her experience as surreal, akin to stepping onto a film set of a movie she'd seen countless times. She firmly declared: "I never want to go back there. It was too traumatic for me. It was just eerie and horrible."
The revealing documentary also features oceanographer Dr Broxhall who delves into the weather conditions that fateful evening, describing the "heavy rain" during Josh's disappearance. Plus, it offers insights from sergeant Colin Taylor, an author and police officer for the Scilly Isles, noting how the coastline was "more treacherous than normal" on that night.
The Last Party: Death On Tresco is available for streaming on Discovery+ starting December 28.
