House left trashed by the granddaddy of all teenage parties

Published on Monday 21 September 2009 22:05

IT'S EVERY parent's worst nightmare, never mind a grand-parent's. A child decides to have a party at home, only for the night to get a little out of hand.

However, for one retired couple their decision to allow their beloved teenage grand-daughter to organise a sleepover for a few "friends" could be one they regret for some time to come.

The pensioners' house was left "destroyed" after the "party" held in the affluent Mannofield area of Aberdeen spiralled out of control after details were posted on a social networking site.

Police sent three police cars, a riot van and a dog handlers' unit to the semi-detached house in Morningside Avenue, after concerned neighbours reported that 150 drunk youngsters were trashing the property.

Yesterday, it emerged a teenage boy was arrested after hordes of youngsters gate-crashed the party in the smart suburb.

Officers said they arrived to find a group of between ten and 20 teenagers outside the house at around 9:40pm on Friday.

Shocked neighbours said afterwards that the house, which belongs to retired hairdresser Brian McDonald and his wife, Glennis, was severely damaged during the party, with a patio door ripped off, windows smashed, paintings ruined and empty alcohol bottles strewn everywhere.

The grandparents had apparently allowed their teenage grand-daughter to have the sleepover with two friends while they attended a wedding in Braemar. But the evening went haywire after details of the "party" were posted on a social networking site on the internet.

As the distraught grand-daughter was comforted by neighbours, Mr and Mrs McDonald were called home by police and the male teenager was arrested in connection with an alleged breach of the peace.

Yesterday, Mrs McDonald said: "It was an awful mess.

The neighbours have been very good and very supportive."

She said of her grand-daughter: "She is coping very well."

A friend of the couple, who lives across the street, said: "The inside of the house was absolutely destroyed. I didn't realise it was that bad until I actually went in and saw it for myself."

Another neighbour said the police could not get inside due to the vast throng of people at the premises.

She said: "It looks like they had gone out purely to cause destruction. It was quite frightening."

One male, who claimed to have been at the party, said: "It was only supposed to be a few good friends round but it got advertised as a party and tons of people crashed. It's a real shame for the girl – I am a close friend of hers.

"We all went back to the house to see her. I've been told there is at least 1,000 of damage in the back room alone."

This is not the first party where unwanted guests caused havoc. In March 2008, an 18th birthday party at a Georgian mansion in Colehayes, Devon, was invaded by 1,000 gatecrashers who caused 3,000 of damage.

Birthday girl Sarah Ruscoe put up a poster at school inviting "everyone" but the night descended into chaos after the celebrations were announced on BBC Radio 1.

Sunderland teenager Rachael Bell, 17, was reprimanded by police after 200 gatecrashers caused 25,000 of damage at her parents' home by urinating in wardrobes and stubbing out cigarettes on clothes and furniture. The 17-year-old claimed that her MySpace page had been hacked into.

WEB WARNING

POLICE and computer experts have warned how posting details of private events on the internet can turn celebrations into parties from hell.

Brian Glick, editor of Computing magazine, told The Scotsman: "There are no formal controls that anyone can put in place on the internet.

"It's really an issue of common sense. Some young people who use social networking sites like Facebook do not realise that anything they post can potentially be viewed by a very large audience.

"There are ways to alter your privacy settings so only a limited number of people chosen by you can see what you post.

"Posting details of parties to your friends on MySpace or Bebo is the modern equivalent to the man in the pub saying 'right, everyone back to my place'."