KEY POINTS:
Bill Brooks thought he had planned for all contingencies when he organised a fancy dress disco for his stepdaughter's 18th birthday party.
He hired four bouncers to protect their Grade II listed (Government-protected) Georgian mansion in Devon, south-west England, and limited the number of guests to 100. He even made sure there would be four other adults, including himself, present to keep an eye on Friday night's festivities.
But the 75-year-old Brooks had not counted on the party's details ending up on the internet, with an anonymous encouragement to strangers to gatecrash the event and cause as much damage as possible.
"We had no chance at all. There were thousands of people here and they have absolutely wrecked the place," Brooks said yesterday as he and his family began clearing up the devastation. "They smashed windows and mirrors, they were out to get us. One chap was even caught removing the door from the refrigerator."
By 7pm, all the invited guests had arrived in their fancy dress. An hour later, more than 2000 drunken young people turned up, overpowering not only the bouncers but the 20 police who came with their dogs soon afterwards, alerted by alarmed neighbours.
"They stole things and caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage. We locked all the bedrooms, but they got into some of them. They smashed up the bar and jumped up and down on tables until they broke."
It took police four hours to get all the intruders to leave. Even then, the horde continued their rampage in the nearby town of Bovey Tracy.
ROCKING THE PARTY
* Corey Delaney Worthington, 16, became a media and internet sensation after his Melbourne party, promoted on MySpace and held while his parents were away, went awry with 500 partygoers clashing with police and causing a A$20,000 clean-up bill.
* Gemma Anscomb, 15, of Sussex, told her parents she was having a few friends around last week. But instead she advertised a party on the internet. The Daily Mail reported that when Robert and Julia Anscomb arrived home the next day they found their dog Bailey unconscious - overdosed on Ecstasy tablets. Their dining room floor was covered in beer, their lap-tops, iPods and jewellery had been stolen and they found handcuffs and underwear in their 8-year-old daughter's bedroom. There was evidence of group sex in their bedroom and traces of cocaine.
* David Worthy and his son, Stephen, had to be airlifted from their British home with a broken nose and spinal injuries after details of his youngest son's 16th birthday party were posted on the internet last October.
- OBSERVER
