Tony Colston-Hayter

Tony Colston-Hayter (born December 1965) is a former British acid house party promoter who was active in the late 1980s and was later convicted for theft and fraud offences. Colston-Hayter played video games as a child and set up three businesses in that sector whilst still at school. He afterwards became a professional gambler, claiming to be the second-most successful blackjack player in the country.

Colston-Hayter became involved in the acid house music scene as a result of his late-night gambling. He saw a commercial potential for the music and in 1988 put on acid house party events at Wembley Studios in London, gaining publicity by inviting a film crew from ITV News at Ten. The following year, during the Second Summer of Love, Colston-Hayter moved his events to the countryside after having issues with venues in London. He developed a system of answerphone clues to guide people to the events, to avoid disruption from the police. Colston-Hayter unsuccessfully protested a change in law that increased the legal penalties for those organising such parties. By his own admission Colston-Hayter later abused A-class drugs and became involved in crime, carrying out bank thefts and frauds for which he received prison sentences in 2014 and 2018.