The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Gang caused £20,000 of damage at girl’s house
Uninvited youth pulled out knife when asked to leave
A gang of teenage gatecrashers caused more than £20,000 of damage to the home of a 14-year-old girl while her parents were out.
The house was so badly damaged the family were forced to move out while extensive repairs and a massive clean-up operation were carried out.
A court heard how the gang – aged from 15 to 20 – caused chaos after turning up uninvited and rampaging through the family home in Luncarty, near Perth.
One deliberately flooded an upstairs bathroom and caused the kitchen ceiling to collapse in a single incident which cost more than £3,000 to fix.
The girl told Perth Sheriff Court Connor Goodfellow, now 18, pulled a knife out when she tried to eject him and his friends.
She said: “He had a knife. It was hanging out of his waist. It was from the kitchen. I could see the handle and a bit of the blade.
“When I asked everyone to leave ,the majority did but him and Stephen Donavan wouldn’t. I told them to leave and kept repeating it and he said if I asked him to leave one more time I was going to get it – then he got the knife out. “He was laughing sarcastically.” The girl, now 16 and who cannot be named for legal reasons was giving evidence in the trial of six accused at the court yesterday.
After a break in proceedings during which a plea deal was thrashed out, two of the gang pled guilty and the others had not guilty pleas accepted.
The court then heard how the gang smashed mirrors, flooded floors, hurled flour around floors and furnishings, kicked in a shed, threw food and drinks around the whole house, kicked holes in the walls, ripped a shower curtain, broke furniture with a golf club, slashed walls and doors with a knife, damaged a garden bench, a record deck and a freezer.
The girl had been out with friends and had invited them back to her home while her parents were out and the six accused had arrived and caused chaos.
Goodfellow, of Broad Street, Cowdenbeath, admitted maliciously flooding the bathroom, breaking taps, and causing damage to the kitchen ceiling.
Jordan Mclean, 18, of Union Street, Perth, changed his plea to admit damaging the bannister and causing more than £600 of damage during the wrecking spree on July 16 2016.
Donavan, 23, Dean Christie, 19, Ben Whyte, 18, and a 17-year-old youth, all from Perthshire, had the charge against them dropped.
As they sat in the court waiting for Goodfellow and Mclean the quartet were given a dire warning by Sheriff Lindsay Foulis.
He said: “The total damage caused in this incident was in excess of £20,500.
“I have little doubt at the end of the day that these two are effectively the fall guys.
“This was a deplorable escapade. It is over two years ago and it is not surprising that the girl whose parents’ house you trashed can’t remember a great deal.
“As a result you are effectively taking responsibility for what she remembers you doing, and the others walk free.
“I have little doubt that those who were previously sitting beside you in the dock were responsible for what occurred.
“I don’t want the others to think this was a big jape and a joke.”
Depute fiscal Michael Sweeney gave the court a joint minute in which it was agreed that the insurance company had paid out £20,500 to repair the damage.
Goodfellow and Mclean had sentence deferred for the preparation of social work reports.