Couple travel 300 miles to try and smuggle £1,800 worth of 'the drug of the moment' into music festival

Yahoo

17-04-2025

A judge says 'drug of the moment' ketamine should be reclassified after a couple travelled hundreds of miles to try and smuggle almost 2,000 worth of it into a music festival.
Erin Gallacher, 23, and her then boyfriend Keir Lyons, both from Scotland, were arrested at Creamfields festival in Runcorn, Cheshire after she tried to sneak in 46 wraps of ketamine hidden inside two Kinder egg tubes, concealed in her vagina.
Passing sentence, Judge Patrick Thompson said it was 'so prominent now' and that the consequences of its use are 'most people's worst nightmare.'
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He said the majority of judges wanted the Class B drug, which has seen record levels of abuse in the last two years, upgraded to Class A.
Chester Crown Court heard the couple were caught after travelling to the popular event on August 25, 2023 by coach.
Will Griffin, prosecuting, said: 'They had a weekend pass but when trying to enter, Miss Gallacher was stopped by security, searched and found to have concealed drugs.
"She claimed to have been paid to take the drugs into the festival and made arrangements on the coach. She then became very emotional and Mr Lyons said he would take responsibility for the drugs.'
When quizzed, Gallacher claimed they had not planned to smuggle the drugs into the event whilst Lyons insisted the items were for their own use the court was told.
Judge Thompson said: ''What planet do people think judges are on? If they had taken 46 wraps over the weekend they would probably both be using colostomy bags now. I have heard every excuse in the book. I know exactly what was going on."
He said their excuses were 'just not believable.' He continued: 'I have been dealing with Creamfields cases for the 15 years I have been sitting, rather too often for my liking. No-one seems to get the message. The drug of the moment seems to be ketamine.
"I do not know why people do not realise the damage done to the bladder and bowels. It is most people's worst nightmare to have a colostomy bag.
'More and more people have them because that is what ketamine does to your insides. It is a category B drug but most judges feel it should be category A. I do not know why it is category B because it is so prominent now and the damage it is causing to people.
'But people choose to take the drug. It puts a strain on the NHS for various bladder and bowel operations that they have to do.
"During a murder case at court recently, the defendant constantly had to be allowed breaks for the toilet. He was a ketamine user and his bladder was shot to bits. That is what it gets to.''
He added: ''This court really is tired with dealing with young people like yourselves, young people who have everything going for them, have a bright future, who choose to turn up at Creamfields, travel long distances, like you did, and decide that they will get some drugs into the festival. The reason for that, is that they are double the value once you get through the security gate.
'This court is not naive about Creamfields. For 15 years I have been sending young people to prison. It was not something I enjoyed. In fact it is very depressing. ''
Gallacher, of Garvock Place, Dundee and Lyons, of Glamis Road, Dundee, both admitted possession of ketamine with intent to supply.
Barrister Paul Wood representing Gallacher said: 'This was an act of immaturity but she has now stopped using ketamine. She has disassociated from peers who were more pro-drug.
"She lives with her parents who are described as upset but supportive. She has learnt her lesson and there is genuine remorse.''
For Lyons defence counsel Oliver Saddington said his client's parents had both died due to a drug use and added: ''It is astonishing to me as it is to the court, that he now appears to be sentenced for drugs offences bearing in mind what happened to his parents. It's a painful irony.''
Gallacher, who wept in the dock, was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for 18 months, along with 200 hours of unpaid work whilst Lyons was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for 12 months, along with 300 hours of unpaid work.