Animal House Party: 2,000 Gate-Crashers!

LONDON, March 19, 2008— -- Sarah Ruscoe will never forget her 18th birthday bash, but not for the right reasons. To celebrate turning the big 1-8, Ruscoe organized a costume party at her parent's 20-acre Georgian mansion.

The hostess with the mostest chose to don a dominatrix outfit, to stand out from the crowd. But what she didn't know was just how big the crowd was going to be. The birthday girl was expecting 100 or so friends.

Almost 2,000 people, mostly teenagers, showed up at her doorstep determined to party.

Ruscoe's father, Reg Brooks, described the scene to the BBC saying, "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," said Brooks.

"That things just got a bit out of hand is probably an understatement," Ruscoe said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph.

She also admitted to knowingly adding to the guest list. "I put up a poster at school inviting 'everyone.'

"Admittedly, perhaps, I was foolish and naive, but how often does a poster cause chaos and devastation?"

Ruscoe's mistake was compounded by an announcement on national radio. A famous British DJ by the name of Pete Tong gave a "shout out" on his BBC radio show. According to the BBC's Web site, he 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."

After that tipoff and mention of the party on social networking sites, chaos ensued and the more than 200-year-old, 21-bedroom mansion was turned upside-down and inside out -- a costume party that turned into the house of horrors.

Ruscoe's mother, Rebecca Brooks, told the BBC that the event was "terrifying." She said, "Bottles and cans were strewn from the house to the village, which is 2 miles away."

Photographs show chairs, tables and couches overturned and smashed up, paintings ripped from the walls, windows and mirrors smashed and people literally swinging from the chandeliers. Sara's mother said the gate-crashers caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

"The droves of people coming toward the house was frightening; it looked like we had a rock festival here," she told the BBC.

Ruscoe's father told the BBC that he blamed the lawless behavior on alcohol. "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," he said, adding, "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."

Although police were swiftly on the scene, complete with riot vans and dogs, it took them a while to break up the party. Eventually, they forced everyone, including the birthday girl's friends, off the premises.

Not only did the uninvited and unwanted guests wreak havoc at the house, some of them also attacked local businesses. Sue Hendstock, whose daughter's shop window was smashed, said the teenagers left a trail of destruction and debris. "It was absolute carnage, with empty bottles and cans everywhere. This is almost unheard of in Bovey Tracey," she told the BBC News. "It frightened a lot of people."

A BBC spokesman, defending the DJ Pete Tong's announcement, 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," the BBC concluded.

Brooks had threatened to sue the BBC. Even though the address was not given out, she told the BBC that big homes were identifiable in rural areas.

She said, "I'm going to write a stiff letter to ask the BBC to review its policy. They have to be careful, particularly to rural communities. People only had to look for the mansion in Bovey Tracey. In this instance, they may have well have just given the exact address."

Brooks also said, "We've all learned lessons, and this is the last party we will be hosting for any of our daughters."