An award-winning pastry chef who worked at a five-star Park Lane hotel has been jailed after trying to smuggle £2,300 worth of drugs into Creamfields in return for weekend tickets to the festival.
Catarina Melo, 23, was arrested after she agreed to take a huge haul of MDMA, Mcat and ketamine into the Cheshire festival last year on behalf of a drug dealer.
The £40,000-a-year sous chef, who works at the £749-a-night InterContinental, was seen by security staff walking past amnesty bins and posters warning of the consequences of smuggling drugs into the festival – only to be detected by sniffer dogs.
Just a month after her arrest in August last year she was honoured with a Pastry Award from the Craft Guild of Chefs at a glittering awards ceremony at the Royal Lancaster hotel for her work in the kitchen.
Portugal-born Melo, who came to Britain aged 10, was detained on the day prospective Virgin Atlantic flight attendant Lucy George was rushed to hospital after taking half an ecstasy tablet, along with vodka and nitrous oxide at Creamfields.
Catarina Melo, 23, was arrested after she agreed to take a huge haul of MDMA, Mcat and Ketamine into the Cheshire festival last year on behalf of a drug dealer
Just a month after her arrest in August last year, Melo was honoured with a Pastry Award from the Craft Guild of Chefs at a glittering awards ceremony at the Royal Lancaster hotel for her work in the kitchen
Twenty-three other people were arrested and charged with drug possession or drug dealing offences from last year’s Creamfields festival
The 25-year-old died from multiple organ failure just as she was about to start her new job.
Melo, of Isleworth, West London, was jailed at Chester Crown Court for two and a half years after she pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply MDMA, a class A drug otherwise known as ecstasy, and the two class B drugs, ketamine and Mcat.
Sentencing Judge Patrick Thompson told her: ‘Creamfields is plagued by drugs because those who smuggle drugs expect large rewards because they are at a premium.
‘In 2022, £89,000 worth of drugs were seized by police from suspected suppliers at the festival whilst in the amnesty bins, there was £178,990 worth of drugs.
‘But most importantly, in 2022, the year you were taking MDMA into the event, a 25-year-old female took MDMA on the Friday and passed away the following Tuesday from multiple organ failure.
‘That’s why this offence is viewed so seriously by the courts.
‘You walked past the clear signage warning you about what you must expect if you smuggle drugs in and you also walked past the amnesty bins. It seems to me you showed some determination to get drugs into the festival.’
Joanne Moore, prosecuting, told the court that officers searched Melo at Creamfields and found a total of 88 blue pills, found to be MDMA and 70 bags of white powder – 30 of which were ketamine and the other 40 were Mcat.
The total value of the haul was £2,280, which were divided into £5 deals. Melo gave no comment when interviewed by police.
Ms Moore said: ‘A phone group discussion was discovered in which the group asked if anyone wanted to take a pack of drugs in return for a weekend’s supply of drugs.
‘The defendant responded she might as well, as she had done it before and a deal was made.
‘There is reference to someone called ‘Charlie’ paying the defendant both in drugs and money for her services.
‘Ongoing through the messages, the defendant goes on to arrange that drugs will be dropped off at her address.
‘The defendant was fully aware that the person above her, who was supplying the drugs, was going to be selling them at the festival.
‘She makes reference to others taking drugs as well. She was aware of the scale of the operation.’
Melo, of Isleworth, West London, was jailed at Chester Crown Court for two and a half years after she pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply MDMA, a class A drug otherwise known as ecstasy, and the two class B drugs, ketamine and Mcat
According to her LinkedIn page, Melo, who graduated in restaurant management at the University of West London despite leaving school at 16, had also worked at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, The Sloane private members club in Chelsea and Sketch brasserie in Mayfair
In September last year Melo was one of eight chefs to be honoured at the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards
According to her LinkedIn page, Melo, who graduated in restaurant management at the University of West London despite leaving school at 16, had also worked at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, The Sloane private members club in Chelsea and Sketch brasserie in Mayfair.
In September last year Melo was one of eight chefs to be honoured at the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards.
She was one of three young chefs to receive the Pastry Award and took the prize for ‘Highest Achiever’, winning for herself a trip to Lyon and a visit to the Paul Bocuse Market, a meal at a Michelin-Starred restaurant and a tour of the state-of-the-art Athanor factory.
In mitigation, defence lawyer David Farley said his client had been ‘naive and immature’ and claimed reference to her suggesting she had previously smuggled in drugs was just ‘big talk.’
Mr Farley said: ‘She was merely putting herself forward as someone who could do this. At the time she had a drug habit herself.
‘She would be paid in drugs, and the other advantage was that it would fund her at the festival.
‘The money was a one-off payment. She was not due to profit from the sale of the drugs. From her point of view it was not a commercial enterprise though I accept that she knew the drugs were to be sold.
‘She walked up to the queue. She saw the drug dogs and lost her nerve. She was afraid to dispose of them as she thought she might get into trouble with those who gave her the drugs.
‘She went to the authorities and confessed that she had the drugs on her. She is as yet undiagnosed with depression and ADHD and has had some traumatic experiences.
In mitigation, defence lawyer David Farley said his client had been ‘naive and immature’ and claimed reference to her suggesting she had previously smuggled in drugs was just ‘big talk’
‘She was ill-advisedly taking drugs and street drugs as antidepressants. She is Portuguese by birth and came here when she was 10. She is not very close to her parents and they do not know she is in the court.
‘That’s more to do with estrangement than fear of telling them. She is genuinely and properly remorseful and very much regrets what she decided to do.
‘She is plainly a hard-working, talented chef and has a job at a distinguished hotel in London. She is very scared of the prospect of custody.’
Twenty-three other people were arrested and charged with drug possession or drug dealing offences from last year’s Creamfields festival.
The four-day event held between August 25 and 28 2022, at Daresbury, Warrington, attracted 69,000 revellers.
Following the festival, police reported 209 crimes, 135 of which were drug related.
