A DEALER travelled from Scotland down to Creamfields with drugs worth £4,000 hidden in cans of Budweiser and Magners.

Ryan Findlay, 20, appeared at Chester Crown Court to be sentenced of possession with intent to supply Cocaine, Ecstasy, Ketamine, and possession of Cannabis.

The Scottish drug dealer was caught entering Creamfields in 2022 with 144 tablets of ecstasy, 28 packages ketamine, and 35 packages of cocaine. These totalled almost £4,000 in street value.

Prosecuting, Peter Hussey told the court how, on the Saturday of Creamfields in 2022, Findlay was taken aside following an alert by drug dogs upon entry to the site.

After an initial search in which Findlay admitted to possessing recreational cannabis and cocaine, with the Scotland native having taken some cocaine on the train down to the Daresbury festival, a further strip search was ordered.

While the strip search was initiated, security officers searched Findlay’s suitcase and bags. Cans of Magners and Budweiser were found, sealed, however, the weight was ‘off’.

After opening the cans, the supplies of drugs were found. Findlay or his associates had managed to fill the cans with drugs, then reseal them afterwards to look unopened.

Found on the dealer’s person was also a three-day camping ticket, which aroused suspicion as that covered Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Findlay arrived on the Saturday.

After being taken to a nearby police station, the Scotsman answered ‘no comment’ to all questions.

His phone was also taken and was described as having messages ‘consistent with that of a drug dealer’.

Defending Findlay, William Staunton told the court how the Scottish dealer had been pressured by criminals into selling drugs.

Findlay’s father, a cocaine addict, died of a heart attack, leaving behind roughly £6,000 in drug debts. These debts passed on to Findlay, who was then expected to work to pay off the £6,000.

The drug dealer, of Ballochnie Drive, Airdrie, had claimed that he had been told he would be delivering the drugs for someone else to send at the festival.

This account, however, was rejected by the courts, who say he ‘clearly’ intended to sell the drugs.

The man, who was 19 at the time of his offence, said that the people in his village to whom his father owed money had smashed up his mother’s windows, and he was afraid to name his supplier for fear of repercussions.

Mr Staunton also pointed out that Findlay had been sober for a full year since these offences, and had ‘changed his life around’.

Judge Simon Berkson, presiding over the case, said: “The festival attracts large numbers of young people.

“There are bins upon entry to the site, and clear warnings at entry to the site.

“You walked past the bins and failed to heed the clear warning. It was a professional job.”

Judge Berkson acknowledged Findlay as having ‘minor criminal convictions, which are not relevant’.

He went on to say: “There is clearly another side to Ryan Findlay, it is sad I need to sentence you today.”

The Airdrie dealer was sentenced to four years in prison for the offences relating to cocaine and ecstasy, reduced to 40 months for an early guilty plea. These 40 months will be served in a young offender institution.

As well as this, he was sentenced to 12 months, reduced to eight, for the charge relating to Ketamine.

These will all run concurrently, meaning he will serve 40 months, a minimum of half of which will be in custody.