Police are pleased with the behaviour of the majority of festival-goers during the annual Splendour in the Grass festival at the weekend, NSW Police say.
More than 32,500 people attended the festival each day between Friday (21 July 2017) and Sunday yesterday, including tickets to camp on site for 22,500 ticketholders.
A high-visibility police operation was in place from Wednesday (19 July 2017), which focused on maintaining a safe and secure event for everyone involved, while working to minimise the impact of the festival on the wider community.
The police operation involved officers from Tweed/Byron Local Area Command, assisted by General Duties officers from across the Northern Region, as well as the Dog Unit, Mounted Unit, Public Order and Riot Squad, Operations Support Group, and Traffic and Highway Patrol Command.
As a result of the drug dog operation, 267 people were detected in possession of prohibited drugs, including cannabis, ‘ice’, MDMA and cocaine.
Police subsequently issued 76 cannabis cautions and more than 142 field court attendance notices.
In addition, 12 people were charged over alleged drug supply.
Of note, about 6.45pm yesterday, a 21-year-old Gold Coast man was allegedly found with 60 ecstasy pills. He was arrested and taken to Byron Bay Police Station where he was charged with supply prohibited drug and possess prohibited drug.
He was refused bail to appear at Tweed Heads Local Court today.
Five people were charged with assault, including a 26-year-old man who allegedly entered a fenced stage area and became violent towards security officers. As police were arresting the man, he allegedly resisted them and assaulted three senior constables.
He was taken to Byron Bay Police Station and charged with six offences; behave in offensive manner in a public place, resist officer in execution of duty, assault police officer in execution of duty (x2), assault police officer in execution of duty cause aggravated bodily harm, and intimidate police officer in execution of duty.
The man was granted conditional bail to appear at Byron Bay Bail Court on Saturday (22 July 2017) and will next reappear at the same court on Monday 21 August 2017.
Police also issued more than 65 criminal infringement notices over alleged trespassing offences after people were detected attempting to enter the event grounds without valid tickets.
Tweed/Byron Local Area Commander, Detective Superintendent Wayne Starling, said he was pleased with the overall behaviour of festival-goers at this year’s event.
"We work closely with the organisers of Splendour to ensure the festival is safe and fun for event staff, performers and music fans, and are pleased the overwhelming majority of revellers were well-behaved," Det Supt Starling said.
"It’s disappointing there were still some people who ignored our advice and tried to bring illegal drugs into the event; however, they were intercepted by our drug-detection dogs.
"In many cases, charges were laid against those who chose to do the wrong thing and they will now be brought before the courts to address those offences.
"We cannot reiterate enough how dangerous these substances can be; they are not only illegal but they can incredibly harmful to your health and in some instances, fatal.
"The safety and wellbeing of people attending the festival is our number one priority and we will continue to run operations to help ensure they are safe," Det Supt Starling.
