A wild teenage party promoted on MySpace has been
condemned by Geelong police who were pelted with glass bottles when
they tried to close it down.
Geelong
police Sergeant Mick Ryan said one drunken youth was arrested after
trying to king-hit a female police officer as the party in the suburb
of Belmont spilled out into the street.
Every
available local police unit was called to the party in Tettenhall Ridge
on Saturday night after the backyard party - being hosted by a
16-year-old and his mother - became out of control.
"It was
just a big party, full of underage drunks in the backyard and the
street was littered with lots of broken bottles so we decided to close
it down," Sergeant Ryan said.
"There was one drunk adult 'supervising' and the backyard was chocker from fence to fence full of kids aged 14 to 18."
Sergeant
Ryan said he was in a brawler van manned by five police officers who
were called out as back up after a police van at the scene was unable
to close down the party following complaints from neighbours.
He
said as he and fellow officers cleared the backyard a fight broke out
in the street and when police tried to stop the scuffle the crowd
turned on officers.
"We stepped in to break it up and one youth started swinging at a policewoman so we arrested him," he said.
"When the fight started bottles started being thrown at us, full bottles of alcohol."
Police were forced to retreat and wait for back up before ridding the streets of drunken revellers.
"Vans
came from Geelong, Corio, Portarlington ... every available unit came
to help ... it was the lion's share of police resources," Sergeant Ryan
said.
It is understood the 16th birthday party had been advertised on social networking site MySpace.
A
17-year-old male was arrested for drunkenness and assaulting a police
officer but Sergeant Ryan said because he was underage he had only been
cautioned.
"If they are underage you have to give them the option of a caution," he said.
Two more youths were arrested for being drunk but will not face charges.
Sergeant Ryan said the mother of the party's host had been spoken to but was heavily intoxicated and unco-operative with police.
He said police were able to close down parties but it was difficult to charge people with offences.
Sergeant
Ryan said some parents who had come to collect their children were
shocked to find out what kind of party they had been attending.
"It was going well until some young blokes started to fight and tried to take us on and then it just exploded," he said.
"I feel sorry for some of the young kids who were terrified by what happened.
"It was like when you drop a stone in a pond and the ripples go out, it just went 'boom'."
Geelong
Chief Inspector Wayne Carson said promoting teenage parties on the
internet only fuelled the chance for violence and drunkenness.
"We
just think it's totally irresponsible to do that and discourage people
from holding 16-18-year-old parties in their backyards, particularly if
they are going to advertise on MySpace," he said.
"It is
terribly irresponsible and, in my view, if you have to have those sorts
of parties in your backyard at least take the precaution of having a
number of supervisors who are sober."
Next door neighbour Rena Mensinga, 86, said she went to bed about 1am when the party was still going and slept soundly.
Mrs Mensinga said she was surprised when police knocked on her door the next morning to ask about the party.
"We
have no troubles with our neighbours and the boys are friendly,'' she
said. "I like the woman, she's a good mother and keeps the boys under
control.''
"Young kids are noisy when they get together. In
the morning I found only one empty can that had come over the fence so
I threw it back.''
Another neighbour at the other end of the
street, Barbara Mahon, said she heard some noise and music until after
midnight but was also not troubled by it.
Mex Cooper with Marika Dobbin
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