Un party di compleanno esclusivo con numerosi invitati di buona famiglia in una "mansion" del Devon. Un programma musicale di BBC Radio 1 con il conduttore che parla della festa imminente, probabilmente per fare gli auguri e sollecitare gli amici della festeggiata. E' stata una combinazione sfortunata. Purtroppo le parole dette via radio, insieme ai dettagli già apparsi sul Web, hanno permesso a qualcuno di individuare il luogo preciso della festa e il passaparola ha fatto il resto: una folla di duemila giovani ha cercato di "imbucarsi" al party e malgrado l'intervento dei quattro buttafuori assunti per l'occasione solo la polizia locale è riuscita ad aver ragione dell'assalto, che ha lasciato una villa devastata, una figlia diciottente in stato di choc e diverse migliaia di sterline di danni. La famiglia dei proprietari dell'abitazione probabilmente non cercherà di rivalersi sulla BBC ma è alquanto seccata per quella che considera una evidente violazione della privacy e una complicità de facto. Un portavoce dell'emittente ha specificato che il deejay, Pete Tong, ha semplicemente citato la località invitando tutti a presentarsi per fare gli auguri. Evidentemente doveva essere un posto talmente piccolo che la villa dei festeggianti è stata subito notata.
Family's fury over radio 'shout'
Revellers stormed Sarah Brooks' 18th birthday party at Colehayes Park, Bovey Tracey, Devon. Sarah's mother said up to 2,000 teenagers arrived after details were placed on the web and a "shout out" was heard on Pete Tong's BBC Radio 1 show. The BBC said the name and address of the venue had not been specified. The item said: "We're getting ready for a huge mansion party - 500 plus people going - it's in Bovey.
"Tracey in Devon tipping us off on that, anyone who's listening can come along, apparently, just say 'hi' to Marilyn Monroe on the door."
If the family makes a formal complaint we will fully investigate
A BBC spokesman said: "Pete did not specify the name or address of the venue, but read out details of a mansion party taking place in Bovey Tracey sent in by a listener.
"He gives shout outs on his show every week - listeners are familiar with this format - and he would never knowingly give an identifiable address for a private party. "Of course, if the family makes a formal complaint we will fully investigate."
Sarah's mother, Rebecca Brooks, described the event as "terrifying".
"The droves of people coming towards the house was frightening, it looked like we had a rock festival here." She added that her daughter was "gutted" because of what happened and had ended up not having a celebration.
Her husband said they believed they had prepared well for the 100 invited guests, but the gatecrashers caused appalling damage both inside and outside the house. "We had no chance. They absolutely wrecked the place," Reg Brooks said.
Four bouncers hired by Mr Brooks to protect the family's Grade II listed home on the edge of Dartmoor were overwhelmed by the gatecrashers. "Sarah was terrified and was in tears," Mr Brooks said. "I saw people breaking our windows, and once they had been shut out, they tried to break windows to get back in again.
"They smashed up the bar, they jumped up and down on tables until they broke. I expected to find a dead person in one of the rooms."
Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police, who eventually cleared the mansion house using dogs, were pelted with glass by the drunken revellers. Mrs Brooks said it was police who told her about the "shout out" on Radio 1. She described it as "diabolical".
Mr Brooks said he blamed alcohol for the devastation. "We had prepared for the party, but we did not know the length they would go to. They even smashed an old family portrait photograph. "One chap was caught removing the refrigerator door.
"These people are probably quite decent people usually, but they get some drink inside them, it is the devil drink."
'Absolute carnage'
Local residents said many of the revellers continued to rampage through the streets of Bovey Tracey. Sue Hendstock, whose daughter's butcher shop window in Station Road was smashed, said the teenagers had caused a lot of damage. "It was absolute carnage with empty bottles and cans everywhere. This is almost unheard of in Bovey Tracey," she told BBC News. "It frightened a lot of people."
Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed officers had dealt with disturbances at two nearby pubs and some arrests had been made.
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