Nine drug dealers arrested at festival
Police hail success of relatively trouble-free RockNess event
Published:
NINE people were arrested for dealing in drugs at a relatively trouble-free RockNess music festival, police confirmed yesterday.
As the last of the revellers left the campsite on the banks of Loch Ness, senior officers revealed that three of those reported to the fiscal for supplying drugs had been found with a “significant” quantity of controlled substances.
A “large number of people”, understood to be about 100, will also be reported to the fiscal in connection with drug possession.
Northern Constabulary’s event commander, Superintendent David O’Connor, insisted the two-day event had been a “huge success from a policing perspective”, though he acknowledged that the death of an 18-year-old festivalgoer, which is thought to be drug-related, had left its mark.
He said: “It’s tinged with sadness because we dealt with a death here on Saturday and that’s sad.”
Ryan Munro, of Harbour Street, Hopeman, was found unconscious near the main stage just a few hours after the festival began.
He died later in Raigmore Hospital, Inverness.
Upwards of 30,000 enjoyed performances by bands including Razorlight, The View, Underworld and DJ Fatboy Slim on each day of the festival, which was in its third year.
Mr O’Connor also revealed that seven drink-drivers and one motorist under the influence of illegal drugs had been caught around the festival site at Dores.
He confirmed police had received several complaints that sound from the main stage could be heard in the Inverness area. It is understood it could also be heard on the Black Isle.
