11:00 – 31 May 2006 Three men have been charged after police seized an estimated £20,000 of drugs and two guns following an illegal rave at a disused Westcountry airfield.
Ryan Haynes, 24, William Hunt, 25, and one other man, 21, appeared in court yesterday charged with possession of drugs with intent to supply. The drugs were amphetamines, ecstasy tablets and Ketamine, a horse tranquilliser used as a recreational drug.
The men also face two charges of possession of guns and one of possession of ammunition.
The charges relate to a car stopped at Wadebridge at 5.30am on Monday morning, which was found to contain two handguns and quantity of explosive “dum-dum” ammunition – hollow-tipped bullets designed to explode on impact, causing maximum damage. One of the handguns was found to be loaded at the time.
Police also recovered 2,000 ecstasy tablets and 2kg of amphetamines.
The search was carried out by police keeping an eye on activity around Davidstow Airfield in North Cornwall. Over the bank holiday weekend, about 5,000 people descended on the area for an illegal rave.
Mr Hunt and one other man are both from Kingston, Surrey. Both appeared in the dock wearing hooded tops, speaking only to tell the court their personal details.
One man is a student at Kingston University, while the dreadlocked Mr Hunt said he was a musician and ran a record label, while being a full-time carer for a family member. Mr Haynes is from Shamley Green, near Guildford in Surrey. He is unemployed. None of the three made any plea to the court, and they were all remanded in custody at Bodmin Magistrates Court until a hearing at Truro Crown Court on June 6.
Police yesterday revealed they had arrested 12 men in connection with the rave. Five of them, a 61-year-old man from Hertfordshire, a 27-year-old from Swansea, South Wales, a 29-year-old from Hay-on-Wye, Powys, a 31-year-old man from Herefordshire and a 23-year-old from an unknown location, were all arrested on suspicion of organising or managing unlicensed public entertainment and were last night at Launceston police station.
An 18-year-old man from Gloucestershire was arrested on suspicion of possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and a 16-year-old boy from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, was arrested on suspicion of driving while disqualified. Both were in custody last night
A 27-year-old man from Bristol was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop while driving. He has been released on police bail until July 10. A 34-year-old man from Leicestershire was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving and released on police bail until June 19.
A 24-year-old man from Newquay and a 24-year-old man from St Austell were both arrested on suspicion of theft of a granite water trough and later cautioned. A 24-year-old man was arrested on a prior warrant and was last night in custody at Launceston.
A 17-year-old man from Gloucestershire was arrested on suspicion of possession of a class A drug but was released without charge.
