Ecstasy 'phoneline' operator caught by security at Leeds Festival

Joshua Ramsden-Harrison was part of a team supplying the drug at the 2023 event.

He admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, but escaped with a suspended sentence at Leeds Crown Court.

Security had been tipped off about a group of males selling ecstasy in the fairground area of the three-day Bramham Park event on August 26.

At around 3pm officers approached the four males, but two ran off and were never caught.

Ramsden-Harrison and another male were detained. They found a mobile phone that contained incoming messages asking for the price of pills and places to meet and exchange the drugs. They also had hundreds of pounds in cash on them.

Ramsden-Harrison made admissions during his police interview, but claimed he came to the festival with no intention of selling drugs and was offered the opportunity.

Judge Richard Mansell KC told him that his claim was “wholly implausible”.

He told him: “It’s perfectly clear to me that you and your three friends entered with a stash of pills to make money by acting as street dealers.

“You were plainly working as a team and you had control of the drugs line.”

Unrepresented in court, Ramsden-Harrison said he had been on drugs himself at that stage of his life, telling the judge he was taking “every type of drug you could think of”.

He said he made a “lot of stupid decisions”.

The 23-year-old, of Fog Lane, Manchester, said his girlfriend is now three months pregnant.

Ramsden-Harrison has a single previous conviction for possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, for which he received a conditional discharge.

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Judge Mansell said he was prepared to accept the drug dealing was a “one-off” and he did it to pay for his ticket and spending money in the festival.

He told him: “It was a totally stupid thing to do, it’s a very serious offence.”

He gave him a two-year jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, with 150 hours of unpaid work and five rehabilitation days.