Footage has captured a vicious brawl between carnival workers and high schoolers at a fair in Brunswick Heads. Photo / Facebook
Footage has captured a vicious brawl between carnival workers and high schoolers at a fair in Brunswick Heads. Photo / Facebook
Disturbing footage shared to social media has captured a vicious brawl between carnival workers and high schoolers at a fair in Brunswick Heads in NSW's Byron Shire on Friday night.
At around 9.30pm local time, the annual McGregor's Family Carnival turned ugly when staff allegedly confronted a group of teenagers who had been throwing water bombs, which the workers claim were filled with urine.
In a video of the "confronting" altercation shared by one mum to Facebook, two grown men appear to throw a series of punches at a group of about 10 teenagers, who can be heard screaming.
One girl, who according to locals is only 14 years old, was also recorded being allegedly pulled to the ground by one of the carnival workers and dragged across the grass by her ponytail, while another young woman repeatedly yelled: "Don't f**king touch her — she's just a little kid."
"This is one of many videos of the staff at the fair assaulting 15 year olds. This has been so disturbing for me as a parent. These kids were throwing water bombs," the woman who posted the footage wrote.
"[The carnival workers] should never be allowed to come back to our town. There is NEVER a reason for a man to lay hands on children.
"I'm sick to my stomach!" one parent wrote, alongside footage of the altercation. Photo / Facebook
"I'm sick to my stomach! Share the sh*t out of it! We all deserve to know what kind of people they are!!"
One teenage boy can be heard yelling "get off my girl" before jumping into the fray, while the workers allegedly continued to attack the 14-year-old and pull at her dress while she was pinned to the ground.
The fair has been running in the area for more than 65 years, with locals expressing their shock on social media at the "disgusting display of violence".
"The McGregor's Family Carnival is on every year in Brunswick Heads in December and January and is a fantastic idea. Something cool for families and kids to do throughout the holidays. In saying that, this is only a good idea if every single one of the workers has an up to date Working With Children Check," one man wrote on Facebook.
"I'm assuming all of them do, but after the display of violence we saw, I'm also assuming a group of them will definitely have theirs revoked. Obviously there was a situation that sparked the incident, but whatever it was could NEVER justify the level of violence we saw perpetrated by fully grown men on children.
"Yes, some kids can be aggressive and violent themselves, but subduing and holding them until police arrive is the most that could or should ever be done.
Shocked locals took to Facebook to express their disgust at the incident. Photo / Facebook
"I hope the carnival workers involved are ... held to account over their abhorrent actions. I also hope that we as a Community are holding our kids to account over their own behaviour."
Others wrote that they live nearby but were "terrified" by what they could hear and "too afraid to step out of the gate to see what was happening".
And while some acknowledged that the teenagers' own conduct may have been inappropriate, "the behaviour from these adults is absolutely disgusting".
"Yes the kids were out of order, and overstepped the mark to the point they needed a bit of a wake up, but hitting a kid is never justified — let alone a young girl," one person wrote.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said officers were "told that a group of young persons at the carnival in Banner Park had been engaging in anti-social behaviour before carnival employees approached the group".
"Upon arrival, the groups had dispersed. A verbal altercation then occurred between both parties before the groups engaged in a physical affray," she added.
