An award-winning pastry chef working at a five-star Park Lane hotel has been jailed after trying to smuggle £2,300 worth of drugs into Creamfields in exchange for tickets to a festival weekend.
Katarina Mello, 23, was arrested after agreeing to take large quantities of MDMA, macath and ketamine at a 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 spotted by security staff walking past the Amnesty bin and posters warning of the consequences of drug smuggling at the festival – which can only be detected by sniffer dogs.
Just a month after her arrest in August last year, she was honored with the Pastry Award from the Craft Guild of Chefs at a lavish awards ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel for her work in the kitchen.
Portugal-born Mello, who came to Britain aged 10, was rushed to hospital on the day possible Virgin Atlantic flight attendant Lucy George was rushed to hospital after taking half an ecstasy tablet with vodka and nitrous oxide at Creamfield.
Catarina Mello, 23, was arrested last year after agreeing to take large quantities of MDMA, macath and ketamine at a Cheshire festival for a drug dealer.
Just a month after his arrest in August last year, Mello was honored with a Pastry Award from the Craft Guild of Chefs at a lavish awards ceremony at the Royal Lancaster Hotel for his work in the kitchen.
A further twenty-three people have been arrested and charged with drug possession or drug dealing offenses since last year’s Creamfields festival.
The 25-year-old died of multiple organ failure just as he was about to start his new job.
Mello, of Isleworth, west London, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply MDMA, a class A drug otherwise known as ecstasy, and two class B drugs, ketamine and macate.
Sentencing Judge Patrick Thompson told him: ‘Crimfields is plagued by drugs because those who traffic drugs expect big rewards because they are at a premium.
‘In 2022, police seized £89,000 worth of drugs from suspected suppliers at the festival while the Amnesty bin contained £178,990 worth of drugs.
‘But most importantly, in 2022, the year you took MDMA at the event, a 25-year-old woman took MDMA on a Friday and died of multiple organ failure the following Tuesday.
‘That is why the courts take this offense so seriously.
‘You walk past clear signage warning you of what to expect if you traffic drugs and you walk past the amnesty bin. It seems to me that you have shown some determination to bring drugs to the festival.’
Joanne Moore, prosecuting, told the court that officers searched Mello in Creamfield and found a total of 88 blue pills, which were found to be MDMA, and 70 bags of white powder – 30 of which were ketamine and the remaining 40 were meth.
The total value of the casting was £2,280, which was split into £5 deals. Mello did not comment when interviewed by police.
Mrs Moore said: ‘A phone group discussion was discovered where the group asked if anyone wanted to take a packet of medicine in exchange for a weekend supply of medicine.
‘The defendant responded that he might as well, as he had done before, and a deal was struck.
A man named ‘Charlie’ is mentioned as paying the defendant both in drugs and money for his services.
‘Through the messages, the defendant proceeded to arrange for the drugs to be dropped off at his address.
‘The defendants were fully aware that the person above him who was supplying the drugs would sell them at the festival.
‘He also mentions others taking drugs. He was aware of the scale of the operation.’
Mello, of Isleworth, west London, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply MDMA, a class A drug otherwise known as ecstasy, and two class B drugs, ketamine and amphetamine.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mello, who left school at 16 but graduated in restaurant management from the University of West London, also worked at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, The Sloane Private Members Club in Chelsea and Sketch Brasserie in Mayfair.
Mello was one of eight chefs honored at the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards in September last year.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mello, who left school at 16 but graduated in restaurant management from the University of West London, also worked at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, The Sloane Private Members Club in Chelsea and Sketch Brasserie in Mayfair.
Mello was one of eight chefs honored at the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards in September last year.
He was one of three young chefs to receive the Pastry Award and won the award for ‘Highest Achiever’, a trip to Lyon and a trip 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, defense lawyer David Farley said his client was ‘naive and immature’ and claimed that he had previously trafficked drugs was just ‘big talk’.
Mr Farley said: ‘He just put himself forward as someone who could do it. He also had a drug habit at that time.
‘He would be paid for the drugs, and the other benefit was that it would finance him at the festival.
‘The money was a one-time payment. Not because he was profiting from selling drugs. From his point of view it was not a commercial venture although I accept that he knew that drugs would be sold.
‘He went up in line. He loses his nerve when he sees the drug dog. He was afraid to dispose of them because he thought he might get into trouble with those who gave him the medicine.
‘He went to the authorities and admitted that he had the drugs. He is still undiagnosed with depression and ADHD and has had some traumatic experiences.
In mitigation, defense lawyer David Farley said his client was ‘naive and immature’ and claimed that he had previously trafficked drugs was just ‘big talk’.
‘He was unusually taking drugs and street drugs as antidepressants. He is Portuguese by birth and arrived here at the age of 10. He is not very close to his parents and they do not know that he is in court.
‘It has more to do with isolation than fear of telling them. He is truly and properly remorseful and very sorry for what he decided to do.
‘He is clearly a hard-working, talented chef and has worked at a prominent hotel in London. He is very afraid of the prospect of custody.’
A further 23 people were arrested and charged with drug possession or drug dealing offenses at last year’s Creamfields festival.
The four-day event between 25 and 28 August 2022 in Daresbury, Warrington attracted 69,000 visitors.
After the festival, police reported 209 crimes, 135 of which were drug-related.
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