Peacehaven woman arrested on suspicion of drugs offences at music festival

More than 45,000 people flocked to Shoreham Airport on Friday and Saturday (June 9-10) for the festival which saw armed officers present for the first time.

This deployment comes after incidents elsewhere in the country in the past weeks, and they were accompanied by specialist drugs officers and dogs aiming to disrupt suppliers entering the site.

According to Sussex Police, nearly 100 people were dealt with – all but six on suspicion of drugs offences – with most of them being ejected from the festival having had an number of illegal drugs seized.

Fifteen cannabis warnings were issued and 59 offences were dealt with by way of community resolution.

Police say investigations are continuing into a 31-year-old woman from Peacehaven, arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A – MDMA.

She has been questioned and released under investigation.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old boy from Buxted, Uckfield, was cautioned for possession of the Class A drug MDMA and Class B drug ketamine.

Superintendent Jim Bartlett said: “We worked closely with the organisers, SJM Concerts, along with emergency services and local authority partners to provide a safe and secure festival where tens of thousands were able to enjoy the event.

“An event of this scale will inevitably cause a degree of disruption to the local community, but I believe that the problems that did arise were not serious and quickly dealt with. I would like to thank all those involved in its organisation and indeed, the vast majority of those attending, for making it another successful year.

“It is disappointing that there are still those who will use such events to try to sell illegal drugs, but along with the full support of the organisers, we were able to mount a robust operation and seized a significant quantity of illegal substances and made some key arrests. Several people have already been charged with possession offences and face court and there are seven more facing investigation into possession with intent to supply.

“For the first time, we deployed armed officers to the festival following the tragic events here in the UK and elsewhere over the last few months. I was heartened to receive many positive comments on site and also from a large number of people on social media who had relatives and friends attending and were reassured by their presence.

“It was a good opportunity for the firearms officers to engage with festival-goers and explain their role and also to be included in a large number of selfies. They seem to have escaped the facial ‘glitterati’ trend - not something that could be said of quite a few of the dog handlers and neighbourhood officers!

“Three years on from its launch, Wild Life has established itself as a fixture in the festival calendar and as well as its target audience of young adults, is also popular with young families. We are happy to play our part in doing all we can to continue that fun and friendly atmosphere.”