- Group caused thousands of pounds of damage and left vomit around home
- Riot police called to North London to break up 600 people outside property
- Catherine Seale, 54, warns of dangers of putting personal details online
- Local man says one boy asked for postcode so mother could collect him
Drunken revellers have trashed a £1.1million house after gatecrashing a public schoolboy’s Facebook event - days after his mother went on holiday and told him: ‘Don’t have any parties’.
The group caused thousands of pounds of damage and left vomit all over the terraced property in Highgate, north London, while riot police were called to break up 600 people in the street outside.
Now mother-of-two Catherine Seale, 54, who had gone to France on holiday with her husband when the trouble began, has warned of the dangers of putting personal details online.
Expensive home: The group caused thousands of pounds of damage and left vomit all over the terraced property in Highgate, north London, while riot police were called to break up 600 people in the street outside
Damage: The broken skylight at the £1million Highgate home where police were called to disperse hundreds of revellers who had turned up to a teenage party advertised on Facebook
Her son, Christopher, 17, had invited 60 friends round to his house on September 21, but a friend who posted the event on Facebook did not realise the invitation could be seen by anyone.Mrs Seale, whose 53-year-old husband Adam is a company director, said: ‘All parents should be warned that this could happen if you go away and leave your 17-year-old alone.
‘I think if anyone is going to throw a party, they need to look at their privacy settings on Facebook. It’s absolutely essential that children are made aware of this.’
Christopher attends £18,000-a-year Mill Hill School, while her daughter Anna, 15, goes to £17,500-a-year Highgate School. One girl at the party was taken to hospital with alcohol poisoning.
Laughing gas canisters were tossed across Mrs Seale’s living room carpet. Christopher and her sister-in-law worked round the clock to clean up, but the house smelled of vomit and alcohol for days.
Mrs Seale added: ‘The last thing I told him before I went away was “don’t have any parties”. The carpet was trashed and they damaged a skylight because somebody fell on it.
Writing's on the wall: Graffiti left at the £1million home where police were called to disperse the revellers
Roof damage: Laughing gas canisters were tossed across Mrs Seale's living room carpet. Christopher and her sister-in-law worked round the clock to clean up, but the house smelled of vomit and alcohol for days
‘They could have been killed. Even though it had been cleaned up when I got back from France, everything felt sticky and dirty and it stunk.’
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said youths fought in the street and urinated in front gardens. He said underage drinking was rife and older teens roared up and down the street in cars.
'The last thing I told him before I went away was "don’t have any parties"'
Catherine Seale
Catherine Seale
Police flooded the area and dispersed the riotous crowd by about 10.30pm after the drink-stricken girl was taken by ambulance to hospital. But officers did not make any arrests.
Ian Grant, 64, who is retired and lives near the property, said one gatecrasher even vomited outside his front gate before asking for a postcode so his mother could collect him.
Mr Grant said: ‘I came back (after) having dinner in town as the event was reaching its height and there was a large crowd of teens, probably between 16 and 20 years old, in the street.
‘Once I was inside (my house), my wife and I looked over our back terrace down to the back garden, which was absolutely rammed with people. I made my way inside to make sure my wife was okay.
Broken skylight: One neighbour said youths fought in the street and urinated in front gardens. He said underage drinking was rife and older teens roared up and down the street in cars
Pricey road: Mrs Seale heard about the trouble when a shocked mother who had dropped off her son at the party phoned to tell her that children aged between 14 and 18 were wrecking her home
‘We live a few doors up but my neighbours who lived closer said they were anxious about damage while the crowds were milling about outside their front doors.
‘After it was broken up there were a few youngsters peeing on trees and one vomited outside our gate. They asked for a postcode so they could tell their mum where to come and pick them up.’
'After it was broken up there were a few youngsters peeing on trees and one vomited outside our gate. They asked for a postcode so they could tell their mum where to come and pick them up'
Ian Grant, witness
Ian Grant, witness
Mrs Seale heard about the trouble when a shocked mother who had dropped off her son at the party phoned to tell her that children aged between 14 and 18 were wrecking her home.
‘Since the party Christopher seems to be working really hard at school,’ she said. ‘Maybe he’s been hit by the realisation that the things he does will have consequences.’
In June, pupils from Christopher’s school were said to have clashed with police after trashing a £2million house nearby during an end-of-term party and causing £15,000 of damage to the property.
It was believed that sixth-formers from Mill Hill School had rented the house to hold ‘a not-too-large party’. But as more guests arrived, the celebration spilled out of control - and onto the streets.
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