Drone pilot fined for flights near East Midlands Airport and Download Festival

Daniel Cesare filmed Download illegally with his drone

A drone pilot who flew near an airport so he could film aerial shots of a rock festival has been ordered to pay nearly £1,500.

Daniel Cesare was filming Download at Donington Park, Leicestershire, which is next to East Midlands Airport and within its "flight restriction zone".

He also flew his drone above the legal limit of 400ft (122m), and was so far away he could not see it.

The 36-year-old, from Spondon, Derby, admitted seven offences.

These were:

• Two charges of flying an unmanned aircraft in a flight restriction zone without permission

• Two charges of failing to comply with the maximum operation height

• Two charges of failing to keep an unmanned flight in sight

• Contravening a requirement to display a registration number

He also asked for 13 other drone-related offences to be taken into consideration when he was sentenced at South Derbyshire Magistrates' Court.

The magistrates ordered the DJI Mavic 2 drone to be forfeited and destroyed

Cesare told magistrates: "I wasn't aware of the restrictions and laws.

"I should have researched more. It was a new hobby to me."

However, magistrate Guy Wildgoose told him "ignorance of law is no defence whatsoever".

He said: "You were operating in the Weston-on-Trent and Shardlow area and you can't have been unaware of the proximity of East Midlands Airport."

Cesare was fined £1,008, reduced from £1,512 because of his guilty plea, and was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £403.

Download Festival was held from 8 to 11 June and attended by up to 130,000 people

Cesare flew his DJI Mavic 2 drone on two separate days during the festival in Leicestershire in June.

Solicitor Peter Bettany, prosecuting, told the court people flying drones during the 2022 festival had caused the airspace to be closed at least four times.

Derbyshire Police therefore decided to use "counter-drone officers" during the 2023 festival, headlined by Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon and Slipknot.

Police detected Cesare's drone flying on 10 June.

He had taken off from the Recreation Centre in the village of Aston-on-Trent, Derbyshire, then flown the drone a distance of 1,670m (5,479ft) away, when he should not have flown more than 500m (1,640ft) away.

The drone was well beyond the "visual line of sight" and he only knew where it was from looking at an app on his mobile phone screen, which was attached to the controller.

He had also flown at a height of 1,640ft (500m), more than four times the legal height limit of 400ft (122m), meaning there was a greater risk of endangering aircraft.

Cesare had filmed some of the footage at night, which is potentially more dangerous

Police went to Cesare's location and seized his drone and mobile phone.

When they looked at the data on the equipment, they were able to see he had also flown illegally the previous day.

On that day he had taken off from King's Mill Lane, near Weston-on-Trent, Derbyshire, then flown the drone a distance of 841m (2,758ft) away, at a height of 1,637ft (499m).

Magistrates also ordered Cesare's phone and drone to be forfeited and destroyed.