Army of yobs invade Brighton birthday party advertised on Facebook (From The Argus)

Army of yobs invade Brighton birthday party advertised on Facebook

9:24am Tuesday 2nd December 2008 in Search By Naomi Loomes

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.”

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