Weather
Army of yobs invade Brighton birthday party advertised on Facebook (From The Argus)
Get involved: Send your news, views, pictures and video by texting SUPIC to 80360 or email us.
Army of yobs invade Brighton birthday party advertised on Facebook
9:24am Tuesday 2nd December 2008
A girl's 16th birthday party which was advertised on Facebook ended in chaos when up to 400 yobs gatecrashed her parents’ £1 million home.
Teenagers forced their way into Georgina Hobday’s four-storey town house before damaging the interior and flattening the garden.
Four adult friends of her parents who were asked to act as “bouncers”
could only watch as youngsters bundled their way into the house and ran riot.
Georgina, who turns 16 later this week, organised the party with two friends. The plan was to have it in the style of the hit MTV series My Super Sweet 16, which documents the lives of wealthy teenagers celebrating their coming of age.
They put 100 friends on the online invitation list but about 400 other people arrived and left Georgina’s parents Sylvia and Michael with damage to their house and garden.
Mrs Hobday said: “The My Sweet 16 programmes have made the 16th birthday a big deal. A few years ago it was always their 18th birthday and they could go to clubs but it seemed that realistically the only place Georgina could have her party was at home.”
Senior police officers are now warning against advertising parties and events on Facebook and other sites such as Bebo.
The party hosted at Georgina’s home in Montpelier Crescent in Brighton took place on Saturday.
Genuine guests began arriving at 9.30pm and the teenager’s parents left, having arranged for four friends to be in charge. But just over an hour later the Hobdays were called by police on their mobile and told that yobs had gone on the rampage in their home.
Mrs Hobday said: “It was an absolute horror show. I will never have a party for my daughter here again. She had no idea who most of the people were and they were rampaging through the house.
“The garden has been ruined, the grass is just mud, people were walking through the pond and I heard one boy was trying to headbutt a mirror.
“My front garden was full and some people were climbing up the balcony and trying to get in through the windows. My floor was blackened with dirt left from shoes and there were cigarette burn marks around the bottom of the door.
“People had taken out light bulbs and just stamped on them in the garden.
They knocked over plants and smashed my garden shed. When the police came they tried to hide under the decking until they’d gone so they could just carry on.
“When I left there was no alcohol in the house but when I came back there were beer cans and vodka bottles everywhere. I think Facebook is a major cause, as well as texting.
“I heard that a Bluetooth alert was going round saying ‘hot party close to the Seven Dials’.”
Officers in about 12 police cars were needed to disperse the crowd which was spreading across the street. A Sussex police spokesman said: “There was a sea of people, the place was overrun and it was difficult to move, which was a major safety problem that required a lot of police time and resources.
“We eventually got the unwanted guests out at around 11pm.”
Mrs Hobday tried to rent the nightclub Audio in Marine Parade, Brighton, for the party but after being quoted almost £1,000 she decided to do it at home.
She added: “My husband didn’t want the party but I thought it would be OK as long as we had a guest list and some adults in charge.
“I do understand that at that age they have nowhere to go because they can’t go to clubs, but invading someone else’s party and wasting police time and money is not the answer.
“I’d like to thank the police for their help. Without them it could have been a lot worse.” A gatecrasher, who did not want to be named, said: “I didn’t know the girl who organised it but we heard about it through friends of friends.
“I arrived with my girlfriend but the place became so full it was frightening, because we felt like we couldn’t get out.
“It was a great night but it got completely out of hand. I feel sorry for the girl whose party it was.”
Were you at the party? Tell us your thoughts below.
More Brighton News stories
- Second man wanted over Seaford murder
- Brighton Centre redevelopment face new delay
- Upside down horse pulled out of ditch
- Brighton half marathon diverted over landslide fears
- Police chiefs plan to keep extra officers on Sussex streets
- Job threat for Hailsham firm
- Brighton man who stole from police car jailed
- Man fled to France after quizzed over Sussex sex attack, court told
- Chopping down 100-year-old trees will be vandalism, say Brighton campaigners
- Doormats branded health and safety menace by Brighton council
Your Say YourArgus
censored, Brighton says...
9:59am Tue 2 Dec 08
My wife's teenage sister let slip in her Facebook status that she had the house to herself. Her parents came straight home and she was grounded.
Jonathon, Hove says...
10:04am Tue 2 Dec 08
censored wrote:That is what you call sensible parenting.
Haven't there been enough of these incidents for parents to learn? The Internet broadcasts your details to whoever wants to see them. Kids are naive but parents aren't and should be drumming in to teenagers that parties and especially your address shouldn't be on facebook. Why does a 16 year old girl even have a public profile? It should be set to friends only, and her parents should have access to this "friends" list. My wife's teenage sister let slip in her Facebook status that she had the house to herself. Her parents came straight home and she was grounded.
Bubblejet, Brighton says...
10:07am Tue 2 Dec 08
It appears they got off relatively lightly!
Charismatic Andrew, Patcham says...
10:14am Tue 2 Dec 08
In terms of alcohol and unwanted people getting into the house it doesn't sound like the 4 adult bouncers did a very good job.
At the end of the day it just sounds like a bit of superficial damage in the garden. No big deal.
Call that a party?
Moon Pig, Brighton says...
10:46am Tue 2 Dec 08
That'll teach them to leave a party unsupervised..... How daft do you have to be to leave them to it? Even with the adult friends.... They hardly sound responsible enough lol.
Where I'm from if people you don't know try and get into your house you call the police immediately and keep the door locked, you don't let them in?!
Pontop Pike, Longbridge says...
11:11am Tue 2 Dec 08
But remember that well known slogan..
"1001 cleans a big big carpet for less than half a crown"
sussex2, shoreham says...
10:10am Wed 3 Dec 08
The girl needs a good slapping and the parents need to take a long look in the mirror.
Kickboxer, Worthing says...
12:55pm Wed 3 Dec 08
emma_r2, 7 Dials says...
1:14pm Wed 3 Dec 08
Kickboxer, Worthing says...
4:32pm Wed 3 Dec 08
emma_r2 wrote:Not far of the mark there, our firm is more than used to dealing with large crowds of out of control idiots, by the time a few have got broken legs or arms they suddenly realise that perhaps it wasn't a good idea to gatecrash someones party.
Had any of you been there to witness the masses of drunken 16 year olds, you would understand how it was completely non-controllable. The fact that you suggest 'if and firm had been there it would not have happened' is laughable and rediculous. There were literally hundreds of them there and police dogs were called in due to the nature of the mob mentality. Who do you think you are? The Krays? This night was frighening and out of control.
Thats the problem these days, we arn't tough enough on idiots like this, well my firm is!!!!!!!!.
pigletstrotters, Brighton says...
7:33pm Wed 3 Dec 08
,,,
sussex2, shoreham says...
7:40am Thu 4 Dec 08
A question is begged though 'hordes of drunken 16 year olds'. One, why were they allowed to get drunk, and two did their parents/guardians sanction this or know where they were.
A 16 year old is a congenital idiot and these days they seem to need constant monitoring, or perhaps that is the problem, they haven't learned, through experience, to be responsible.
dipstick, brighton says...
4:09pm Thu 4 Dec 08
dipstick, brighton says...
4:18pm Thu 4 Dec 08
keep YA EYES OPEN JAGGER AND HE FRIENDS ARE ON THERE WAY TO YA XMAS PARTY
Your sayYour Argus
Add your comment
Register for a FREE The Argus account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.
Please register now or sign in below to continue.
The house in Montpelier Crescent
The trampled, cigarette-strewn garden
The Hobday's smashed shed
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
jakiB, Sompting says...
9:47am Tue 2 Dec 08