Concern over £25,000 drug haul seized at T in the Park

ILLEGAL drugs with a street value of £25,000 were confiscated from revellers at T in the Park this year, figures show.

The haul was one of the single biggest seizures by Tayside Police during 2012.

It included a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine worth £12,000, and half a kilogram of cannabis and cannabis resin.

Figures released under Freedom of Information legislation show that people attending the festival also had over 20 grams of ecstasy, nearly 50 grams of speed and 151 diazepam tablets.

Officers at the event – staged at Balado by Kinross, in July – also recovered nearly 50 grams and 35 capsules of M-Cat, as 250 people were charged with drug offences.

There are concerns that drug-taking at Scotland’s leading music festival is on the rise.

Sheriff Robert McCreadie said: “How many of these cases are there? I don’t think I have ever seen them before to such a degree. We have had case after case of ecstasy and cocaine.

“It has raised my concern about the level of drug-taking at T in the Park. On the other side, there is obviously a sophisticated security operation.”

Among the people subsequently convicted in relation to drugs offences at T in the Park were a lawyer, an executive with British Aerospace and a member of the event’s own staff.

People convicted of possession or dealing have been fined a total of more than £20,000 already, with a number of cases still unresolved.

Of those caught with drugs, the vast majority were ejected and had festival tickets – worth an estimated £50,000 combined – confiscated by police.

A spokesman for Tayside Police said: “The number of accused persons detected for possession of drugs or possession with intent to supply drugs at T in the Park 2012 was 248.

“All 248 individuals were reported to the Procurator Fiscal for consideration of prosecution. Of these 248 individuals, 12 were detained in custody. The potential street value of the above described drugs amounts to £24,995.

He added: “The security agencies at T in the Park also confiscate tickets from persons they eject from the event.”

Tayside Police said they had recovered larger hauls of drugs on just five occasions this year.

Among those convicted for smuggling illicit drugs into the music festival were lawyer Justine Siebenaler, BAE executive Nicholas Kirton and T in the Park barman Barry Ferguson.

MSP Murdo Fraser said the number of young professionals caught with illegal substances was concerning.

A string of court appearances have featured highly paid professionals, with no previous criminal record, including graphic designers, engineers and oil industry workers.

Mr Fraser said: “These court cases have challenged commonly held stereotypes about those taking drugs.

“Television and music often glamourise drug abuse, and young people with promising careers are being drawn into experimenting with narcotics.

“The ‘work hard, play hard’ maxim adopted by many young professionals has created a dangerous attitude towards recreational drug abuse.

“Perhaps our young people need to be reminded once more of the dangers posed by Class-A drugs.”

Lawyer Justine Siebenaler’s career was left in tatters after she was found guilty of attempting to smuggle ecstasy into the festival.

She wept in the dock as security officer Tina Spence described pulling two bags of drugs out of her underwear.

Siebenaler, from Glasgow, was found guilty of possessing ecstasy and fined £200.