Chorley man jailed for attempting to bring in class A, B and C drugs into festival

Liam Dodd was jailed for 16 months on Wednesday 18 February after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs (MDMA), possession with intent to supply Class B drugs (Ketamine) and possession of cocaine and nitrous oxide.

The court heard that prior the festival Dodd had purchased a four-day camping ticket and had travelled to the Daresbury festival on Thursday 22 August 2024.

Shortly after 2pm that day, Dodd attempted to enter the site via the VIP entrance, where he was subjected to a mandatory search as a condition of entry. It was here that an on-site detection dog indicated that he may be in possession of drugs.

Creamfields security then contacted a Cheshire Police officer within the festival and Dodd was subsequently searched.

On his person was found:

• X3 large nitrous oxide canisters, canisters nozzles and balloons
• Several quantities of cocaine in various sized bags
• Between 70 and 80 purple tablets, later found to be MDMA

Dodd was subsequently removed from the festival and invited to a voluntary interview with police regarding what had been found.

During his interview, Dodd admitted to police that he had intended to bring the drugs into the festival with the intention to share them among a group of friends believed to be attending the festival later.

He also told officers he was not paid to take the drugs into Creamfields and that he was not under any threat now the drugs had been seized from him.

As a result, he was subsequently charged with the offences.

Police Constable Tony Icke, of the Creamfields Post Event Investigation Team, said:

“Year after year, we and the team at Creamfields make it abundantly clear that anyone attempting to bring illegal substances into the festival will face the full extent of the law.

“Whilst the majority of festivalgoers are respectful of this, we continue to see a brazen few attempting to bring drugs of all classes into Creamfields, thinking they can get inside without being detected.

“This is not something we will tolerate and, as we have seen in this case, the consequences of doing so can result in a substantial prison sentence.”