Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
David Spereall

'We must improve after difficult Leeds Festival', says councillor as investigation into boy's death continues

Authorities investigating the death of a teenager at Leeds Festival last month are “still gathering evidence”, a public meeting has been told. David Celino, 16, from Salford, is thought to have taken an ecstasy tablet before falling fatally ill at the event over the bank holiday weekend, West Yorkshire Police said.

Now, Leeds City Council’s licensing committee has indicated it wants to take a close look at the circumstances surrounding the tragedy, in a bid to prevent a repeat. The committee is effectively responsible for allowing the festival to run each year and holding organisers to account.

Speaking to fellow councillors at a meeting on Tuesday, committee chair James Gibson said: “Our thoughts are with David Celino’s friends and family at this tragic time. Councillor (Debra) Coupar (the council’s deputy leader) and myself met with partner agencies yesterday to discuss some of the issues that arose at Leeds Festival.

READ MORE: Leeds man arrested after 'beautiful' Georgia, 18, dies in crash is released as police issue update

“What was clear from that meeting was that there’s still evidence being gathered by partner agencies.” Councillor Gibson said a report on the festival was being compiled by the council’s safety advisory group and that public scrutiny of this year’s event could start once investigations had been completed.

He added: “The licensing committee has to be involved in looking at how we improve what was a difficult Leeds Festival.” In 2021, the council was handed a formal notice by a coroner to prevent future deaths at the festival, after 17 year-old Anya Buckley died at Bramham Park in 2019.

In response, awareness campaigns around drugs and alcohol were ramped up at the 2021 event and additional late-night medical officers were employed. A standalone drugs advisory board was also set up on site.

However, organisers stopped short of banning 16 and 17 year-olds attending without the company of an adult, despite the coroner at Miss Buckley’s inquest saying he was concerned unsupervised teenagers were “easy prey” to drugs.

Read next:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.