SEPTEMBER | COVER FEATURE
Above, left to right: Reed;
Measham; Mutiny Festival
“The legal doctrine of
‘volenti non fit injuria’
would apply,”
– Luker Rowe’s Peter Tilsed
24
role becomes imperative. Crucially,
MAST also provides information
and intelligence to all site medical
and emergency services, alongside
monitoring of local drug trends.”
The recent tragic events at the
Portsmouth Mutiny festival have
caused other festivals to view
their positions taking into account
moral, legal and insurance reasons,
according to Peter Tilsed of Luker
Rowe. “Future drug checking at
festivals brings some interesting
considerations due to the different
attitudes. Bestival provided drug
testing, whilst Reading and Leeds
have the opposite approach saying
that there will be none.
“Festivals are unlike many other
day-to-day activities as it is known
and accepted that the illegal
activity of drug taking happens
at the event. The legal doctrine
of ‘volenti non fit injuria’ would
apply, which states that if someone
willingly places themselves in
a position where harm might
result, they are not able to bring
a claim against another party.
However, this would not take
all responsibility away from
organisers, although if a legal claim
was successful, the compensation
would probably be proportionally
reduced due to this.
“Because organisers are aware
of the drug taking, they would be
expected to provide some basic
facilities such as adequate first aid.
The Mutiny festival was unusual
as the festival was cancelled once
the dangerous drugs had been
discovered. Legally this was
probably a sensible step as there
is an increased duty on organisers
when they become aware of an
increased and unacceptable
exposure to their customers.
Should the organisers be taken
to court, it is likely that the Public
Liability insurers would become
involved, he adds.
“Whilst a standard Public
Liability insurance policy would
have no drugs exclusion, it is
possible that this could be added
to an insurance policy for a festival
leaving the organiser with no
insurance protection.
“There may also be other
exclusions when the organiser is
providing advice, such as where
Bestival are offering a drug
testing service. “Whilst this is
being undertaken by an outside
organisation who presumably have
adequate insurance, any initial
claim would come against the
organiser.”
Luker Rowe’s message is
therefore that there are many
areas that need consideration
before any decision is made and
in respect of insurances, you need
to check with your insurance
provider as to what is, and most
importantly what is not, covered
under the festival insurance policy.
MADE Festival, a Birmingham
festival, which took place on 28
July, operated a strict no drugs
policy but introduced Multi
Agency Safety Testing (MAST)
as part of its new harm reduction
strategy, allowing festival-goers
to test drugs and make informed
choices; the first time such safety
testing has been used in the West
Midlands.
The decision was the result of
a new partnership between The
Loop, a non profit social enterprise
specialising in drug safety testing,
West Midlands Police, the Police
and Crime Commissioner and
Birmingham City Council.
Pete Jordan, MADE Festival’s
Festival Director says: “As
Birmingham’s leading music
festival, the safety of our
customers is our top priority.
MADE Festival maintains its
anti-drug stance, and we strongly
urge people not to bring illegal
substances to the event.”
Fiona Measham, The Loop’s
director adds: “The Loop will be
delivering our drug safety testing
service at over ten festivals across
the UK this summer so we have a
growing understanding of what
is circulating in the illegal drug
market, what is missold and what
the risks might be. It is vitally
important that we test in the
Midlands and collect test data to
inform not just festival-goers but
also onsite and off site emergency
services so everyone knows what is
in circulation.”
The Loop’s MAST service is
a form of drug safety testing
whereby individual users
submit samples for analysis and
receive their results as part of a
confidential, individually tailored
harm reduction package, which
facilitates a direct dialogue
between the customer