Anna, 16, is happy her dad is alive after he was attacked when her neighbour’s party was gatecrashed.
Nothing much happens in our street, it’s pretty quiet. But a few nights ago a girl up the street was having a party. We could hear the usual party sounds from our place: music, yelling of excited people, laughing. Just like any other party.
Later in the evening I heard a sudden burst of screaming. For the next three hours the only sounds I could hear were yelling, swearing and bottles smashing. The noise died down, then suddenly there was a loud crashing noise and three boys ran up the street from our front yard. They’d dislodged and thrown one of our gate lights to the ground and smashed it. I was terrified!
My dad came bursting into my room and demanded my camera and a large torch. He ran out of the house telling me to call the police. My mum was screaming at dad to come back into the house and wait for the police to come but he continued outside. Mum got worried after a while and ran outside to find my dad. She then came running back in again screaming that dad had been punched in the eye by one of the boys running riot outside our house.
Dad said a bunch of guys had circled him and then one of them beat him in the eye. Other people from our neighbourhood came out to defend him and get the guys to go away. The police took an hour to get to our place and by this time the gate crashers had well and truly gone so we couldn’t even press charges. When they did arrive they took our details and said they would patrol the area. They ended up finding 20 of the gatecrashers and taking them in to the station. I just wish they’d found the other 40 too.
The girl who had the party was really distressed about the whole ordeal and her mum was extremely apologetic. She assured us that she was doing all in her power to find out who the guy was that abused my dad. She said a large group of older guys showed up to the party and she and her son told them to leave. They hung outside their property then practically had a riot on our street. Some people had their houses vandalized and urinated on, some cars were graffitied, street signs were pulled down and vodka bottles and cask bags were thrown at people’s houses.
An eyewitness said the guy who hit my dad would have been about twenty years old. Another eyewitness overheard him and his mates talking about going back to try and get into the party just before he hit my dad. I’m just relieved my dad’s ok. He’s had a CT scan and his eye is black and swollen but it doesn’t look to be anything too serious.
If anyone reading this is having a party it’s a good idea to hire security and let the police know in advance that you’re having a party so they patrol the area. Whatever you do, don’t mention your party on MySpace or any social networking sites because a bunch of randoms might turn up on your doorstep. It was the most terrifying night of my life and I’m just glad my dad didn’t get beaten to a pulp.
