Thousands of teenagers heading for Leeds Festival have been warned by a coroner to “heed the lessons drawn” from the “painful tragedy” of the death of a 16-year-old who took ecstasy at last year’s event.
Senior coroner for Leeds Kevin McLoughlin issued a direct appeal to festival-goers ahead of the 2023 event next week as he concluded the inquest into the death of David Celino, from Worsley, Greater Manchester.
Mr McLoughlin told Wakefield Coroner’s Court on Thursday that he believed the teenager took one-and-a-half tablets he and his friends bought from a dealer at the site who has never been identified.
He told the court: “David took about one-and-a-half tablet but this was enough to kill him.
“As a tribute to David I would hope that all young people attending the festival become aware of that fact and heed the lessons drawn from this painful tragedy.”
Mr McLoughlin repeated the words of David’s father Gianpiero, who told the inquest he believes “the ticket that signals the death of another young person has already been sold”.
The coroner said: “I hope that every young person attending the festival does not take the risk that they are the person holding that dreadful ticket.”
Following the death of 17-year-old Anya Buckley from a drugs-related death at the festival in 2019, the same coroner issued a report which urged organisers to think about whether unaccompanied 16 and 17-year-olds should be allowed into the event, which attracts 90,000 people every August.
But he heard how Festival Republic, which runs the event, and Leeds City Council, which licenses it, had decided against this move for a number of reasons after extensive consideration.
