TWO beauticians were busted trying to smuggle £6,500 worth of cocaine and ecstasy into a top dance festival.
Erin Hobdell, 21, from Crookston, Glasgow, and Kira McNicol, 23, from Prestwick, Ayrshire, were pounced on by police at the Creamfields Festival after a sniffer dog raised the alarm.
Hobdell was caught with 42 knotted plastic bags hidden in her waistband containing 26 grams of cocaine worth £4100, as well as 2.43 grams of MDMA powder valued at £400, and 96 MDMA tablets worth £960.
While McNicol had 143 ecstasy tablets stashed inside her privates worth £1,490.
But the duo were spared jail after a judge accepted they were “pressured” into acting as mules by other punters on their bus.
The pair had travelled 230 miles from their homes to attend Creamfields festival in Runcorn, Cheshire in 2022 with a group of their friends.
When questioned the pair claimed they were persuaded to take the drugs into the event by the rest of the coach party and insisted they were not planning to sell the drugs.
At Chester Crown Court, the duo pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply. Hobdell was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
McNicol, meanwhile, was sentenced to 18 months jail suspended for 18 months.
Both women sobbed in the dock as they were also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. Both had faced four years jail under sentencing guidelines.
In sentencing Judge Steven Everett told the women: ‘‘At some time you received your tickets for Creamfields and I know you would have received other information which shows what happens to people who attempt to take drugs into Creamfields.
“Many have gone to prison and their lives have been completely changed because they did not see the seriousness of what they were doing.
“Two people to my knowledge have died from taking drugs at Creamfields.
“You were each engaged by pressure, I recognise that and I am prepared to accept it was because of naivety.
“Each of you had to wait for the best part of 18 months before you were charged. That is a real factor as the evidence was clear cut from the start. It is unacceptable for someone to wait such a long time, perhaps even more so for a young person.
‘‘This is justice delayed and ultimately it’s a factor in your favour as you have since made real steps to turn your lives around.’‘
Earlier, prosecutor John Oates said: ‘‘On August 25, 2022 at Creamfields a sniffer dog indicated that Hobdell might be in possession of drugs at the festival.
“She immediately admitted that she had the drugs concealed and told police that she had been asked to bring them in.
“McNicol is a friend of Hobdell and she admitted that she had drugs and had been asked to carry the drugs in.
“It is accepted by the prosecution that they were persuaded to take them in by a group of friends on the coach. Each was not the actual supplier but used by others to carry drugs.”
In mitigation defence counsel Miss Fiona McNeil, for Hobdell, said: “She was 18 at the time of the offence and was prevailed upon by others.
“She had no financial gain – she was misguided and foolish. But she had the presence of mind to know she had made an unwise decision and handed herself in.”
For McNicol, defence counsel Miss Lisa Judge said: ‘‘Very obvious efforts were made by Miss McNicol at the scene to identify the perpetrator on the coach who convinced her stupidly to take the drugs into the Creamfields festival.
“He was actually pointed out and he was held upon leaving Creamfields – but there was no prosecution against him.
“She accepts that this will be a concern that this court has and a concern that the general public has generally – but that does not mean that every single case from Creamfields warrants a custodial sentence.”
