Latest news with #BenBuckfield
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Drugs were being sold like 'food at a market' at notorious music festival where university student died after taking MDMA, coroner says
Drugs were being sold like 'food at a market' at a notorious music festival were a university student died after overdosing on MDMA, a coroner has said. Former film student Ben Buckfield, 22, died last August after overdosing on Class A drug, MDMA, while attending the Boomtown festival in South Downs National Park, near Winchester, Hampshire. Coroner Nicholas Walker said it is 'very worrying' that drug dealers would wander through the festival's campsites shouting 'ket, coke, pills' - all of which were on offer to revellers. He also raised concerns about the drug culture at Boomtown after Ben's death made him the fifth person to have died at the annual five-day long event since its inception in 2009. Ben's parents, Georgina and David Buckfield, told the inquest that the Hampshire event is a 'dangerous, enabling environment' for young people and that 'it's only a matter of time before there's another death'. Ben, who had recently graduated from The University of Winchester, died after suffering a seizure as a result of consuming four pills of the Class A drug in what was described as a 'drug bomb'. Delivering his conclusion, Mr Walker told Winchester Coroner's Court: 'It seems to me that the most appropriate conclusion I can offer in this case is one of drug-related death. 'I'm satisfied that the MDMA in his system overwhelmed him and he began to have seizures as it took effect. 'Ben took drugs into the festival, and purchased more drugs inside the festival. I'm satisfied that he died of the MDMA he purchased inside.' Mr Walker referred to evidence he heard from Ben's friends about the 'open and obvious' sale of drugs in the campsite area. He said: 'I do find it particularly worrying evidence that young people are left alone in campsites and festivals, without parents or societal pressures, that there are dealers walking around so regularly and blatantly.' The coroner said this is 'of concern' to him and referred to evidence he heard that dealers would shout about their products 'as if it were food in a market rather than illicit drugs'. Mr Walker added: 'There was therefore a ready supply of drugs for Ben to buy.' Mr Walker said he was satisfied that the medical care provided to Ben by staff onside was 'entirely appropriate', and commented that he is satisfied that the organisers at Boomtown take 'safety seriously'. Grieving mother Mrs Buckfield, from Saffron Walden, Essex, delivered a statement ahead of the coroner's conclusion in which she described her son as a 'glorious, unique human being with a great love of life'. She said he was 'passionate' about movies made by director Martin Scorsese, and was a massive fan of the TV show Game of Thrones. Mrs Buckfield, from Saffron Walden, Essex, said her son was 'well read and passionate about politics and history, with a particular interest in Russian history'. The mother added: 'Ben loved his family and friends and would always stick up for the underdog. He had his whole life ahead of him. 'I don't want his life defined by what happened on that terrible night at Boomtown Festival. I don't want more families and friends going through the same heartbreak we're enduring.' Mrs Buckfield said it is 'shocking' that Ben is the fifth young person to die at the festival. She added: '[If] things don't change at Boomtown, it's only a matter of time before there's another death or life-changing injury. 'We feel in its present state, Boomtown is a dangerous enabling environment for young vulnerable people, and lessons need to be learned. 'Ben was a real human being, not a faceless, invisible ticket holder.' Boomtown is a festival that is known for incorporating rave culture into its production. The coroner's court heard that Ben arrived at the festival on August 8 with a group of friends from school and university. He had been to the festival once before in 2023. He was seen taking cocaine, ketamine and drinking alcohol, but his friends said this was not 'out of the ordinary' at a social event. They said you could hear people advertising the sale of drugs every twenty minutes or so in the tent area of the festival. Ben had brought some drugs into the festival with him and is believed to have bought some more from vendors in the two days prior to his death. On the Saturday evening he arrived in a crowd with his friends and was 'profusely sweating'. He tried to get out of the crowd and then started suffering from seizures, being put into the recovery position by medics. He was later taken to the festival's medical tent, before being taken off to hospital, where he passed away at 3.45am the next day after repeated attempts to save him. His parents, who were at a wedding in Warwickshire, arrived at around 11:30pm and saw him in hospital before his death. His cause of death was later confirmed as Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) toxicity. Addressing the coroner's court, Mr Walker said: 'A number of people here have clearly been utterly devastated by the events of last year. 'I remind myself of the words of his mum, on behalf of the family, that Ben was a glorious young man - funny, intelligent and caring - and a life not defined by that night. 'He was a young man with the world ahead of him, having fun at a festival - a rite of passage for young people everywhere in this country and abroad. 'A kind, passionate, intelligent, interested and interesting young man. He was being young, and as many people often do, made foolish decisions in the course of those few days. 'But, I repeat, and I'm sure, that he will not be defined by that night.' Mr Walker said he will consider issuing a Prevention of Future Deaths report into Ben's death.
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Parents of reveller who overdosed on MDMA at notorious Boomtown festival blast organisers' drug safety policy
A reveller died after taking a 'drug bomb' of four MDMA pills at a notorious music festival, an inquest heard. Former film student Ben Buckfield died after overdosing on MDMA, also known as ecstasy, on a hot day at Boomtown festival, an inquest heard. At the hearing, the 22-year-old's devastated parents questioned whether the festival provided 'adequate and appropriate care' criticised organisers over their drug safety policies. It emerged that 'deeply caring' Ben was not taken to a hospital for two hours after he suffered a seizure. Georgina and David Buckfield said it was 'a hell of a long time' for their son to 'not be in a proper hospital'. The couple urged the Hampshire event - which they said is a 'high-risk environment' - to put up 'clear and powerful messaging about the dangers of drugs'. The director of operations that runs the medical facilities at Boomtown told the inquest their medical tent is as good as an A&E ward and that he 'wouldn't do anything differently' if he was presented with Mr Buckfield's situation again. The court heard Mr Buckfield had recently finished a film studies degree at Winchester University, achieving a 2:1, before going to Boomtown in August 2024. Boomtown, held at Matterley Estate near the Hampshire cathedral city, is a festival that is known for incorporating rave culture into its production. Mr Buckfield's death is believed to be the fifth at the festival since it started in 2009. Winchester Coroner's Court heard that Mr Buckfield arrived at the festival on August 8 with a group of friends from school and university. He had been to the festival once before in 2023. He was seen taking cocaine, ketamine and drinking alcohol, but his friends said this was not 'out of the ordinary' at a social event. They said you could hear people shouting 'ket (ketamine), coke, pills' every twenty minutes or so in the tent area of the festival. Mr Buckfield had brought some drugs into the festival with him and is believed to have bought some more from vendors in the two days prior to his death. On the Saturday evening he arrived in a crowd with his friends and was 'profusely sweating'. He tried to get out of the crowd and then started suffering from seizures, being put into the recovery position by medics. He was later taken to the festival's medical tent, before being taken off to hospital, where he passed away at 3:45am the next day after repeated attempts to save him. Mr Buckfield's parents, who were at a wedding in Warwickshire, arrived at around 11:30pm and saw him in hospital before his passing. His cause of death was later confirmed as Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) toxicity. Mr and Mrs Buckfield, from Saffrom Walden, Essex, asked whether the festival has adequate medical support for the 70,000 annual attendees. Mrs Buckfield said: 'At 9:29pm on August 10 I got a message saying that Ben is not well to which I replied that I had spoken with him yesterday and he seemed well. 'I tried to call him again and was told that medical support was with him and he is being taken to Winchester and he was unconscious.' She said the couple arrived in the city at 11.30pm and discovered their son 'had taken MDMA and plaster of Paris', was bleeding internally and had had a cardiac arrest. Mrs Buckfield added: 'They wanted to open his abdomen but he was too poorly to go into the theatre. 'They came out to say he was bleeding from the oesophagus and wanted to let him go with dignity. 'They took him off the machine and he passed away at about 3:45am. We left the hospital at around 6:30am.' She said he son had previously taken drugs recreationally and had suffered with depression in secondary school. But Mrs Buckfield went on: 'We have since wondered what Boomtown did to counter the high risk environment at the festival. 'Do they provide adequate and appropriate care within that environment? 'We have had no personal condolences of sympathies from Boomtown festival since the incident. 'There should be clear and powerful messaging about the dangers of drugs at the festival. 'Why did it take two hours after the emergency for him to leave the site since this was a medical emergency and his life was slipping away?' Mr Buckfield said at the inquest: 'We just wanted to get some answers as two hours seems to be a hell of a long time to not be in a proper hospital.' Craig Harris, Director of Operations at Event Paramedic Services, has run the medical facilities at Boomtown Festival for 15 years. He said: 'We have 14 beds and four resuscitation bays in a hospital that is equivalent to an A&E. 'I choose my team specifically for the needs of Boomtown and they are all highly qualified. 'We can do exactly what would be done in an A&E on site and then using an ambulance allows for easier and better treatment than an air ambulance, since the staff can treat the patient while the vehicle is moving. 'We have all the right skills and right equipment on site and we had staff with Ben just two minutes after receiving the call. Three teams and myself eventually went to him. 'We treated 1,178 patients out of the 66,000 capacity in some way. This falls well within the national average which is 1.5% to 2%. 'Boomtown are extremely supportive of us as a company and if we ask for something then they will get it for us. 'If I was in that situation again I wouldn't do anything differently.' In August 2013, 18-year-old Ellie Rowe died after taking ketamine at Boomtown and her mother Wendy gives talks at the festival each year, as well as campaigning for drug-testing stations at such events. In 2011, mother-of-two Deborah Jeffery, 45, died after suffering a heart attack as a result of taking ecstasy at the event. The inquest continues.
BBC News
10-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Tennis fans keep spirits high in the Wimbledon queue
Wimbledon's queue is a key part of the tournament's return each fans camp overnight or arrive in the early hours of the morning in the hope of getting hold of tickets for specific courts or for a grounds steward James Mendelssohn, from Thursley in Surrey, previously told the BBC some people returned year on year to the queue and were like "old friends".More than 10,000 people descended on Wimbledon Park for the chance to get tickets before 2025's first day of play. Those arriving at SW19's Wimbledon Park, adjacent to the All England Club, are given a numbered queue card on arrival and a team of stewards manages entry in the order people have arrived.A limited number of centre court tickets are available for the first 10 days only, and availability for other courts varies throughout the tournament. So what brings people to the queue, in all weathers, and how do they keep their spirits up? We took an early morning trip to Wimbledon Park to find out Buckfield and Jade Jordan had travelled from Epsom and arrived at 05:00 umbrellas, a plastic groundsheet and "loads of binbags" they were sheltering from Monday morning's Buckfield said: "I've never been to Wimbledon in my life."I don't watch tennis, we're just here for the vibes." Katie Rose, who lives in Staines, and Matthew Bartkowski had taken a cab and brought pre-made pesto and mozzarella baguettes, crisps, and a "big carton of coffee" to keep them got a taxi at 4:15, Ms Rose said: "We're running off four hours sleep, so we're a bit tired." In Monday's morning's rain, Mr Bartkowski said: "The weather's not great but spirits are high. "Looking forward to the day, the sun's going to come out soon, we're keeping our fingers crossed." Deirdre Crawley-Moore from Oxted was queuing with her son Kerran Boylan."I did bring a waterproof but my son's wearing it because he didn't bring anything with him," she said."No umbrella, but so what?"Asked what else she had with her to keep her going, she joked: "Alcohol." Yousif AlKooheji, a former Sussex University student who previously lived in Brighton, arrived just before 05: a recently smashed bottle of win, he said he was in "more than good spirits" and had been "really excited" for the day."About 5:30 heard people popping some champagne, some prosecco," he added."We've had some girls having a dance along to Abba, I think people are in a good mood."Gemma and son Ethan from Guildford had arrived in the queue around 06:25 and had a queue ticket numbered just under 5,000."We're just looking forward to going in and enjoying the atmosphere," Gemma said. Michael, from Worthing, had camped from 23:00 BST on the previous evening but described his tent as "a bit ropey".He was not pinning his hopes on seeing anyone in particular at the tournament. "I'm looking forward to being around, being able to watch a few of the different games and get a bit of the atmosphere," he how does it feel getting to the front of the queue?Tom, from Windlesham, had parked just outside Putney and walked to Wimbledon Park, having queued from shortly after 06:00."It's awesome, we're dry which is the most important thing now," he said."We're looking forward to seeing some great tennis."
