A businessman tried to smuggle thousands of pounds worth of drugs into Leeds Festival but was caught out by eagle-eyed security officers.
Hassan Qureshi, 32, was driving three people into the festival who he had contracted out to work as security guards for his company Night Patrol, when others noticed a "strong smell of cannabis."
Leeds Crown Court heard on Thursday from prosecutor Andrew Stranex that Qureshi, of Hyde Park Drive in Bradford, was driving a white Audi A3 in August 2019, when it was stopped. He said: "Two people in security clothing tried to enter the area used for working and another security person went and could smell cannabis and asked who had been smoking it.
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"They were told no one had and they said the people in the car would be searched as well as the car. The defendant told them they were 'wasting their time.'"
A backpack was found in the car and was revealed to contain a quantity of cannabis resin and skunk. Five MDMA tablets were also found. It was said the drugs were estimated to have a value of £2,645. Qureshi said he did not know who the bag belonged to and said to staff he was the "boss" of Night Patrol Security Company.
Mr Stranex told the court Qureshi was interviewed by police days later on August 24 and gave officers a prepared statement denying the offence. The barrister said: "He said the rucksack wasn't his and the vehicle was a company car which had a number of people in the vehicle and made no comment. After that first examination was carried out, his fingerprints were identified as being present on the drugs packaging and he was interviewed on the 16th of June 2020.
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"When he was re-interviewed about the evidence, he said he had seen the bag in the boot and he rummaged around to see what was in there and realised it was drugs but because he was tired, it was late and he needed to be up early the next day he decided to leave it in the boot to deal with it when he woke up. When he woke up he needed to deal with his employees and decided to deal with them first before he had had a chance to deal with the bag."
The court was told Qureshi had a previous conviction for possession of cannabis that was of age. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply cannabis and possession of MDMA on the day of his trial. Mr Stranex said: "He clearly had some awareness or understanding of the scale of the operation.
"This was a music festival with a clear targeting of customers."
Mitigating, Rodney Ferm, told the court that when the dad-of-two left school, he did not join the family business and was instead a carer for a number of years but was forced to take up his role after his father had died. He said: "He was not ready for it which caused him some upset. He didn't get on with his younger brother and was left with a role to play in the business which he wouldn't have been in if offered the chance but he took it on and the facts of the 24th of August 2019 speak for themselves."
The court heard married Qureshi lives with his mother and has "shown clear ability to rehabilitate himself in the period since his arrest and has kept clear of all trouble."
Mr Ferm said: "There is another side to this man which I submit came to the fore again over the last four years since his arrest. It was two years before he was charge which of course has been hanging over his head."
Recorder Moran spared Qureshi an immediate prison sentence and instead handed him a sentence of 18 months suspended for two years. He told him he must undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £500 within three months and a surcharge.
The judge said: "This wasn't particularly sophisticated in that when you entered the festival, the smell of cannabis came from the car. It was the targeting of Leeds Festival, with a market of young people wanting to buy cannabis...The outcome for you may have been different if so much time hadn't elapsed."
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