MUTINY FESTIVAL 2018: Security guard says festival needs '˜rethinking' after deaths

Now one security guard who was at the festival has told The News that he was concerned with how quickly people were getting through the entry gates and the fact that staff did not have the authority to do full-body searches.

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The guard, who asked to remain anonymous, says that he also thinks there should have been more staff on duty. He said: ‘In my opinion everything was happening much too quickly. In the searching area there were so many people packed in that we couldn’t tell who had been searched and who hadn’t.

‘If people did have anything on them they were taken to a search area that was mixed gender – that should never happen.

‘From what I saw all that was searched was people’s pockets and their wallets – because we aren’t police we cannot do a full-body search. I also think there should have been more sniffer dogs at the festival and much more security.

‘I think the whole event needs rethinking – the entrance needs to be slowed down and I believe the checks should be much more thorough.’

Festivalgoer Georgina Newman, 23 from Selsey, says that the security at Mutiny Festival was not as watertight as it has been at other festivals she has attended.

She said: ‘I don’t think that people going into the festival were being searched properly. Nobody was being patted down – it seemed like chaos as everyone poured through the gates.’

According to Georgina, she saw people with under 18 wristbands passing alcohol around, saw evidence of drug taking and fights breaking out.

‘The whole situation was just very uncomfortable,’ she added.

Hampshire police have confirmed that sniffer dogs on the gates were the responsibility of the festival organisers and not associated with Hampshire Constabulary.

Vespasian Security has been approached by The News but declined to comment.

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