Teen who died from ecstasy at festival preyed on by 'child catcher' drug dealers
The father of a 16-year-old boy who died after taking ecstasy at a music festival has told an inquest: “The ticket that signals the death of another young person has already been sold.”
David Celino died after he was taken ill at Leeds Festival in August last year after taking the drug, a hearing at Wakefield Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday. His father Gianpiero Celino told the inquest about the concerns he has for 16 and 17-year-olds at music festivals, where he claimed they are left as prey to drug dealers who target them like “the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”.
He told the inquest: “The ticket that could signal the death of another young person has already been sold. It’s out there somewhere. It’s just not been cashed.” Pharmacist Mr Celino, from Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester, told the inquest he drove his son to the festival at Bramham Park, near Leeds, which he attended with a group of six friends as they celebrated their GCSE results.
He said he believed the organisers did not do enough to stop drug dealing at the site which, he said, took place openly. Mr Celino said: “We think there’s a problem with the availability and provision of drugs at the site. “We believe that, as it’s currently run, the festival can’t be safe for 16 or 17-year-olds who attend unaccompanied.”
He said the organisers talk about the measures they put in place to combat drug dealing and keep people safe “but it doesn’t work and David’s death is evidence of that”, Mr Celino said. He described their reassurances as “theatre rather than facts”.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
Mr Celino told the inquest how he and his wife had stayed in a hotel near the festival site because he was concerned David had not been at an event like it before and could decide he did not like camping. He told the coroner he had paid hundreds of pounds for all six boys in David’s group to stay at the Camping Plus section of the site, which offered enhanced facilities and security.
Mr Celino described how he and his wife arrived at St James’s Hospital in Leeds before the ambulance, after hearing David had been taken ill and suffered a cardiac arrest in the medical centre at the festival. He told the coroner he believed there needed to be greater search and surveillance activity at the site, and that policing was too “arm’s length”.
Mr Celino said this meant drug dealers could operate without fear of arrest. He said under-18s were particularly vulnerable as, given the restrictions on alcohol sales were tightly observed, they were often looking for drugs instead. Mr Celino, who said he has a background in implementing safety systems, said he was also concerned about medical provision at the site.
He said that given ecstasy overdose was clearly the most likely cause of death for young people at the site, there should be similar provision for rapidly cooling patients as there is in a hospital. Mr Celino told the inquest: “Why are we talking about X-ray machines in the medical facility when we should be talking about ice baths?”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
