Assaults most prolific crime at Victorious Festival as police report "low" overall criminality

A total of 33 offences were reported during the three-day festival over the August Bank Holiday weekend, with assaults accounting for 17 of these - of which eight arrests were made. By far the most serious incident was an attack by four males on a man near the Common Stage on Sunday evening around the time of Becky Hill’s set, as reported. 

Meanwhile, there were six drugs offences involving possession of cannabis, four offences of sexual assault/sexual touching, three theft crimes, two of fraud and a single spiking incident.

Of the eight arrests made for assaults, five people were released on bail, two people will face no further action and one person was given a community resolution. Drug amnesty bins made up of predominantly cannabis and cocaine led to £663 worth of drugs handed in.

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Chief inspector Habib Rahman, who oversaw the policing of Victorious Festival this year, said: “With up to 80,000 people attending Southsea Common for each day of Victorious, I’m pleased to say that the level of crime reported to us has remained very low at this year’s event. We’ve worked with the festival organisers and partners such as Portsmouth City Council to ensure that Victorious remains a safe and family friendly event for residents and visitors to Portsmouth.

 “One of our areas of focus continues to be making sure that vulnerable people are safeguarded and ensuring that the event is a safe space for women and girls, and indeed all festival-goers. Festival staff work hard to identify anything that needs to be raised to us so that we can investigate all reports of criminality. 

“This has possibly contributed to a small increase in the number of instances of assault reported to us, with the main increase relating to reports of threats or assaults to event security staff who diligently carried out their specific roles to safeguard festivalgoers. It’s also important to point out that the number of reports of sexual assault and spiking remained low this year.”

He added: “The successful use of the drug amnesty bins was also encouraging in terms of what was handed in. This will have had a direct impact on reducing criminality on the festival site and improving public safety. 

“We’re progressing our investigations into the reports that have been made to us and eight people have been arrested in relation to different reports of assault made to us. Five of these people have been bailed, one has been given a community resolution, and two will face no further action. We received one report of a serious assault on Sunday night where multiple arrests were made, but all the other assault reports related to less serious levels of violence.

“I’d like to thank our officers and staff who worked very hard to engage with the public over the weekend and who helped to ensure it was a safe and memorable weekend for the vast majority of those attending.”