Facebook seems to get the blame for almost anything these days, and the case of 16 year old Aneesh Shukla who used the social not-working site to invite all his friends over for a wild party while his parents were away is no exception.
“£1m ($1.5 million) home trashed by gatecrashers after boy advertises party on Facebook,” screeches the Daily Mail headline, which goes on to provide no further details about the apparently open invitation or how the social network could be deemed responsible for something teenagers have been doing for years.
Apparently, the Shukla oldies were naïve enough to believe their son just wanted “a quiet evening with friends,” after he hit them up for “£20 ($35) to buy fish and chips” before they left him alone for the weekend in their million and a half dollar mansion.
Cue the onslaught of “more than 100 party-goers” at the “gated property in Kingston-upon-Thames, South-West London” some hours later. Because Facebook can apparently unlock gates now too.
Unfortunately, it seems little Aneesh’s buddies weren’t particularly well behaved house guests, “throwing objects from windows, smashing chandeliers, defacing cars and urinating out of windows.” Because that’s what happens to kids when they’ve been cooped up for too long at home playing Farmville.
The Shukla’s neighbours, who we assume are also rather rich but don’t seem able to buy ear plugs or double glazed windows, called the police. Twice. But apparently the thought of coming to wrap a 16 year old rich kid from a £21,000-a-year Westminster School on the knuckles didn’t tempt the poor overworked bobbies on a Saturday night.
So instead, the distressed neighbours were left traumatized by sights of broken glass strewn across the lawn, “teenagers shouting and screaming,” (many of whom we’re told were “wearing hoodies”) and bottles and cans.
Not to worry though, when mommy and daddy Shukla returned on Sunday afternoon, the pair simply called in the “contract gardeners and cleaners” to clear up the mess and told the press she wouldn’t comment as it was “absolutely a private matter.”
Until the photos are made public on Facebook, that is.
