A grieving mother has revealed that her 18-year-old daughter died at the Mutiny Festival in Portsmouth after taking two pills.
Janine Milburn, a healthcare assistant, said Georgia Jones "was 18 and full of life" and that she hopes "this stops at least some of you ending up the same".
The popular dance festival has been cancelled as a "safety precaution" after the death of Ms Jones and a 20-year-old man.
The two who died and another who is in critical condition were among 15 people to attend hospital during one night of the Mutiny Festival.
The deaths are being treated as separate incidents and are not being treated as suspicious. However, Hampshire Constabulary said inquiries were being made to determine the circumstances.
Janine Milburn pays tribute to ‘my little girl’ as festival cancelled after two deaths
Two people died and another was in a critical condition on Sunday amid warnings that a “dangerous high strength” batch of drugs had been in circulation at a music festival in Hampshire.
Georgia Jones, 18, was named by her mother on social media as one of those who died after taking drugs at the Mutiny festival in Portsmouth on Saturday night. Janine Milburn posted a tribute on Facebook saying that “my little girl was 18 and full of life” and urging young people to avoid drugs.
The other victim was reported to be a 20-year-old man.
With at least 15 festivalgoers admitted to hospital on Saturday night, the organisers cancelled the second day of the festival and issued a statement warning of a “dangerous high strength or bad batch substance on site”.
The hospital said in a statement that the admissions were “not necessarily all drugs-related”. Nonetheless, the deaths prompted renewed calls for all festivals to provide drug testing facilities, which proponents argue drastically reduce drug-related harm and hospitalisations.
Amid reports that the pills in question were so-called “silver Audi” high-strength ecstasy tablets, testing charity The Loop reported that it had seen the same pill at a testing facility at Love Saves the Day Festival in Bristol over the weekend.
While there were suggestions that the drugs may have been contaminated, two pills – which could include as much as 600mg of pure MDMA – is likely to be a potentially life-threatening dosage. In a social media post The Loop said that a batch currently in circulation contained “up to triple an average adult dose”, though it did not specify a link to the Portsmouth deaths.
The weekend’s deaths were being seen as separate incidents and were not being treated as suspicious, but Hampshire police said inquiries were being made to determine the circumstances.
The Loop (@WeAreTheLoopUK) Current ones in circulation are up to triple an average adult dose - start with quarter & regularly sip water. #JustSayKnow #TestNotArrest #TimeToTest https://t.co/ITwIDvqJ89
Fiona Measham, a director of the drug testing charity, told the Guardian that the deaths marked “a sad start to the festival season”.
She called on other festivals to work with local authorities to provide the service, which is mainly staffed by volunteers and receives no government funding. The Mutiny festival does not currently offer drug testing facilities on site.
Niamh Eastwood, executive director of Release, a charity which calls for drug reform, also called for more drug testing at festivals.
“The reality is that some young people will take illegal drugs,” she said. “What we need in every venue and festival where this happens are services that can reduce the harms and potentially save lives.
“However, often what we see are zero tolerance policies rather than harm reduction policies which put people at greater risk.”
In her Facebook post about her daughter, Janine Milburn said that her daughter suffered a fit after the pills caused her temperature to rise significantly. She asked people to share her post, adding: “I just hope this stops at least some of you from ending up the same … the more people that know the more she can hopefully save.”
Festival organisers said they were devastated to hear of the loss of life and had taken the decision not to open the festival today as both a safety precaution and in respect to those who have passed. The decision was understood to have been taken on police advice.
“Everyone on the team is devastated,” Luke Betts, the festival organiser, told the Guardian. “We cancelled today’s event because we could not take the risk. Safety has to come first.
“We issued a harm prevention warning yesterday because several people went to hospital with drug-related symptoms and we wanted to be proactive.
Expressing his condolences to the families of those who died, he added: “As you can imagine, this decision was not taken lightly and was taken with the support of the local statutory authorities who we continue to work with.”
Addressing the issue of a lack of drug testing facilities, he said: “The safety of our festival family is of paramount importance to us and we employ many measures to prevent harm, including teams of safeguarding, welfare and healthcare professionals roaming on site as well as police and drugs dogs at the entrance.
“Unlike some of the bigger festivals who have started using drug testing options we’ve never had a real problem with drugs. However, this tragic weekend has clearly changed that.”
Betts added: “We will certainly talk to and encourage the relevant authorities to help bring this in for any future events or festivals. We back anything that could potentially minimise the risk to life and stop this tragedy from ever happening again.”
The festival, which admits 16- and 17-year-olds, has previously faced criticism from police over its procedures for ensuring that children were kept safe.
In 2017 Hampshire police asked Portsmouth city council to increase the minimum entry age to 18, saying that its faith in the organisers had been “seriously undermined” after senior officers “raised serious concerns with regards to the ability of children to attend the event”.
The criticism followed an incident where a 13-year-old was allegedly sexually assaulted.
The force had said ahead of the event that it would be clamping down on drugs, warning that it would search bags on entrance and adding: “Controlled drugs and psychoactive substances are not permitted.”
“Even just dabbling in illegal drugs and psychoactive substances can have catastrophic and fatal consequences,” superintendent Paul Bartolomeo said in a statement last week.
Police were first alerted when Georgia Jones fell ill at the site on Cosham at 7.10pm on Saturday, while the man was found collapsed at 7.30pm.
Both were taken to the Queen Alexandra hospital where they later died. Police said next-of-kin for both people had been informed and were being supported by specialist officers.
The organisers also urged customers to “responsibly dispose” of any substances.
Disappointed customers took to social media to demand refunds since the statement provided no such assurance.
Police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward. It is unclear whether there have been any arrests.
Two young people have died after collapsing at a Portsmouth music festival.
An 18-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man died in separate incidents at Mutiny Festival, which was taking place at King George V Playing Fields in Cosham.
Organisers have cancelled the second day of the event, which was to be headlined by Craig David and Sean Paul, after warning of a “dangerous high strength or bad batch substance on site”.
The announcement, which organisers said was a “safety precaution”, prompted demands for refunds from disappointed customers on social media.
The deaths are not being treated as suspicious, although Hampshire Constabulary said enquiries were being made to determine the circumstances.
Mutiny Festival had issued a harm prevention alert on social media on Saturday night warning of “a dangerous high-strength or bad-batch substance on site”.
“We strongly urge you not take any substances whatsoever and to report any symptoms of illness/discomfort immediately to medical, welfare or the safeguarding team,” the announcement said.
“Please stay alert and look out for each other.”
Police were first made aware of the woman falling ill at the site on Saturday evening and the man was found collapsed around 20 minutes later.
Both were taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, where they later died.
A statement posted on the music festival’s Twitter page said: “Mutiny Festivals are devastated to hear of the tragic loss of life from its festival family today.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends at this very difficult time and we will continue to work with the authorities to support them in any way possible.”
It later added: “Following the terrible news from earlier today, the team behind Mutiny Festival are incredibly sad to announce that the Sunday of the festival has been cancelled as a safety precaution.
“The safety of our amazing customers has always been paramount to us and so to keep everyone safe and in respect to those who have passed, we have taken the decision not to open today.
“As you can imagine, this decision was not taken lightly and was taken with the support of the local statutory authorities who we continue to work with.”
The organisers also urged customers to “responsibly dispose” of any substances.
Police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
The force said: “At 7.10pm on Saturday 26 May, we were informed that an 18-year-old woman had fallen ill at the festival site in King George V Playing Fields, Cosham.
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“The woman was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital where she later died.
“At 7.30pm, a 20-year-old man was found collapsed at the festival site. He was taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital where he later died.
“The deaths are being treated as separate incidents at this stage. They are not being treated as suspicious but inquiries are being made to determine the circumstances of what happened in each case.”
The families of both people were informed and were being supported by specialist officers, the force said.
Anyone with information has been asked to contact police on 101.
Press Association contributed to this report
Image copyright Facebook Image caption Georgia Jones, 18, has been named locally as one of those who died at Mutiny Festival
The mother of a teenager who died after "taking two pills" at a dance music festival has spoken of her grief at losing "her little girl".
Georgia Jones, 18, and a 20-year-old man died following separate incidents at Mutiny Festival in Portsmouth.
Writing on Facebook, her mother Janine Milburn said she hoped her daughter's death would deter others from "taking anything ever".
Police have not confirmed whether drugs were involved in either of the deaths.
A Queen Alexandra Hospital spokesman said some of the people treated presented with "drug-related" symptoms. It could not confirm if all 15 illnesses were related to drugs.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Mutiny Festival safety adviser Ian Baird said organisers were liaising with police following two deaths at its site in Portsmouth
A statement on Facebook from festival organisers read: "The safety of our amazing customers has always been paramount to us and so to keep everyone safe and in respect to those who have passed, we have taken the decision not to open today."
Earlier, the festival at King George V Playing Fields in Cosham had issued a "harm prevention alert" apparently warning about the use of drugs.
The message to festivalgoers described a "dangerous high-strength or bad-batch substance on site".
Organisers said on social media they were "devastated" about the deaths.
Image caption Liam Blair said he was shocked to hear about the deaths
Festivalgoer Liam Blair, from Southampton, was one of thousands of revellers making their way home early after the event's cancellation.
He said closing the festival early was a "respectful" decision and that there was an atmosphere of "shock" as news of the deaths spread.
"You just don't expect that to happen to people so young," he said.
Image caption Sophie Wilkinson said some people at the festival were "annoyed and upset" by the decision to cancel Sunday's events
However, Sophie Wilkinson, 17, said some festivalgoers had been left "annoyed and upset" by the decision to close the festival early.
Police were alerted to Ms Jones falling ill at 19:10 BST on Saturday, and the man was found collapsed about 20 minutes later.
Both were taken to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, where they later died.
Image copyright Mutiny Festivals Image caption Organisers announced on Facebook that the festival had been cancelled on Sunday "as a safety precaution"
Ms Milburn posted a warning on Facebook about the dangers of drugs following the death of her daughter.
"If nothing else I hope what has happened to her will deter you from taking anything ever," she said.
"My little girl was 18 and full of life."
In a statement, Hampshire Police said: "The deaths are being treated as separate incidents at this stage.
"They are not being treated as suspicious but inquiries are being made to determine the circumstances of what happened in each case."
Image caption Many revellers at the Mutiny Festival had been camping
The two-day festival featured artists performing electronic music including drum 'n' bass, garage and hip hop.
Dizzee Rascal, Craig David and Sean Paul were among the acts scheduled to appear.
Speaking on Twitter, Craig David said his heart went out to the family.
More than 30,000 people were expected to attend the festival, which has been running since 2013.
