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YouTube gatecrashers trash 16th birthday bash

Dad punched in face, son hospitalised

A quiet birthday party in Chippenham, Wiltshire turned into a near-riot after details were posted on YouTube prompting over 100 uninvited teenagers to gatecrash the bash, Reuters reports.

During the ensuing fracas, engineer David Worthy, 53, was punched in the face "when he tried to turn away a group of youths", his son Stephen, 18, was badly beaten and subsequently taken to hospital in Bath with "suspected spinal injuries" and the mob "stole whisky and champagne, smashed windows and started fighting".

The party last Saturday had been arranged to celebrate son Christopher's 16th, with about 30 invited guests. Parents David and Susan had debunked with youngest son Richard, 14, for a pub meal and "planned to return home to watch a video upstairs while the revellers celebrated below".

However, Christopher quickly rang asking them to come home asap. When they arrived, David's attempt to eject a group of youths earned him the aforementioned smack in the face. He told the Times: "One was swearing right in my face so I pushed him away and then all hell let loose."

He added: "It's all a bit of a blur. I have had to take several days off work with my broken nose and two black eyes."

Mum Susan recounted: "We were scared stiff. There was a loud bang and the windows smashed. I thought they were going to kill us."

Son Stephen was released from hospital the next day, while police arrested six teenagers aged between 15 and 18, four "on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm" and two "for public order offences". They were all later bailed.

Back in April, a 17-year-old from Sunderland ill-advisedly used MySpace to invite a few mates round while her parents were away.

The resulting carnage - during which an uninvited mob "filled the bath with the family’s crockery, the shower with empty booze bottles, urinated on her mother’s wedding dress and dyed her younger brother’s clothes, which they’d deemed chavvy" - resulted in damage estimated at £20k. ®

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