A festival of sheer stupidity: Magistrate slams young Field Day drug users
A senior magistrate recounted the names of several young festival goers who’d lost their lives to overdoses as he read the riot act to two young men who were arrested for hiding drugs in vapes.
Police & Courts
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Two young men who smuggled drugs into a Sydney festival hung their heads in shame in court this week, after a frustrated magistrate told them they could have joined the long list of teens who died from an overdose.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsvardidas told Zac Douglas, 20, and Jack Beggs, 19, that taking drugs was a “toss up”, before slowly recounting the names of several young festival-goers who’d lost their lives.
Anna Woods, Georgina Bartter, Sylvia Choi, Joshua Tam were the names listed by Magistrate Tsvardidas, teens who tragically lost their lives to overdoses at NSW music festivals.
It drew a sombre response from the teens – and their parents – who were told of the impacts drugs use could have on their health, careers and future prospects.
“You don’t belong here. You are not a criminal, you do not have a history. Why you would put yourself in this position is beyond me,” Magistrate Tsvardidas said.
“Your mum is in the court today, your dad is in the court today. They have done so much for you – you had a good childhood, yet you’ve ended up here.”
Beggs and Douglas hid drugs including ketamine, cocaine and MDMA in their vapes before walking into Field Day on January 1. They were quickly stopped by drug detection dogs, and each pleaded guilty to two counts of drug possession.
While Magistrate Tsvardidas spared them a conviction, he left them with a stern warning to “smarten up”.
“There have been a string of deaths since the ’90s at music festivals in NSW, you may not remember, but I do, your mum does and your dad,” he said.
“These people take a tablet and before they know it they are on the ground convulsing and, sadly, some of them die.
“Anna Wood, Georgina Bartter, Sylvia Choi, Joshua Tam – these are just some of the people who died and hit the newspapers.
“They were at festivals just like this. Harbourlife, Knockout Circuz, Defqon.
“You don’t know what you’re getting (when you take these tablets). But if you hit the deck and start convulsing you would expect the ambulance and police to help you … but if you take a drug it is a toss-up.”
Lance Petti, who also faced court for two counts of drug possession on Tuesday, heard a similar speech from Magistrate Tsvardidas.
But the 42-year-old father wasn’t afforded the same leniency as Beggs and Douglas, with the court hearing he had previous offences.
His attempt to “party, have fun and relax” after a stressful few weeks as a parent left him with a criminal conviction and $1200 in fines.
According to research from the 2019 Global Drug Survey, the majority of people who attend music festivals in Australia are young – with an average age of 22 – are well-educated and have never been in trouble with the law before, with just six per cent of people ever having received a criminal conviction.
The most commonly used drugs according to the survey were alcohol, MDMA, cannabis and cocaine, however UNSW researcher Dr Phillip Wadds said while the types of drugs used depended on the type of festival, the most common illicit drug used was MDMA.
Douglas and Beggs were two of almost 100 people charged with drug offences at the New Year’s Day dance festival in Sydney.
Police detected 97 people in possession of illicit drugs, including MDMA, amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, ketamine and psilocybin (mushrooms), while 84 people received medical treatment by paramedics, with three taken to hospital.
At last weekend’s Laneway Festival in Sydney, police issued 28 cannabis cautions, 27 drug infringement notices and 14 court attendance notices for drug possession, while two people were charged with supply prohibited drug.
The summer music festival season launched on the October long weekend in 2022 with Listen Out and Knockout Festival, which landed 18 people in hospital.
Harbourlife, where Georgina Bartter overdosed and died in 2014, was held in November and landed 33-year-old pharmacy graduate Katie Rides in court, after she tried to smuggle MDMA and cocaine into the event.
She was charged with two counts of drug possession and copped a spray from a magistrate.
“Well, I’ll be frank Ms Rides, you’re an idiot,” he said.
“To go to this much trouble to take MDMA and cocaine into a music festival – idiot.
“How does someone with a Bachelor in Pharmacy dabble in MDMA?”
Dr Wadds said there were several factors that contributed to overdose at a festival, including “panic consumption” – when people take all their drugs when confronted with the heavy police presence – as well as the body’s response to drugs.
“If an event starts at midday, in the hottest time of the day, it’s not the safest time to be taking amphetamines, which we know increases your body temperature and can produce medical harms that can escalate very quickly into emergency situations at festival events,” he said.
Fortunately there have been no deaths in NSW during this festival season, with festivals credited for offering amnesty bins for attendees to discard their drugs without being arrested
The initiative came out of a recommendation from the 2020 coronial inquest into the drug-related deaths of six young people at NSW music festivals between December 2017 and January 2019.
While the inquest recommended the scrapping of sniffer dogs and the introduction of pill testing, the state government rejected the initiatives.
Dr Wadds said education about drug use at festivals was also having great success.
“Having the signs up side of stage in between sets that say: ‘Look out for your friends, if you notice somebody isn’t well get in contact with staff or a bar member or take them to the medical tent’, whatever it is, those sliding door moments are really critical,” he said.
“And the earlier the intervention is made at an event, generally the far better the kinds of outcomes are in terms of the reduction of harms.”
Jennie Ross King, who lost her daughter Alex after it is believed she took at least two MDMA capsules or pills before entering the FOMO festival in Parramatta in January 2019, said she believed education and messages like those issued by Magistrate Tsvardidas were key to stopping future festival deaths.
“People aren’t going to stop taking drugs at festivals, we’ve seen that, so what we need is an education campaign, people need to be aware of what can happen if they take MDMA or another drug, they need to know the signs of an overdose,” she said.
“Parents, caregivers, friends, they all need to have an open conversation so kids are really aware of the dangers.”
Following the fourth anniversary of her daughter’s death, Ms Ross King has launched ARK Insights in her daughter’s name, an organisation dedicated to sourcing and sharing clear, credible information on a range of topics that impact the younger generation, from drugs and alcohol, to mental health.
“Alex’s friends didn’t know what was happening (when she overdosed),” Ms Ross King said.
“I’d never had a conversation with her about drugs either. Imagine if I knew what could happen, or her friends knew the signs.
“I don’t want anyone else going through what we have, I don’t want another life lost like this.”
During each festival season, Ms Ross King said she feels “physically ill” worrying about whether there will be another overdose death.
“If hearing from someone like me, who lost their daughter at a festival, helps save a life then I will keep doing it,” she said.
“That’s what Alex would expect from me.”
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