Police bust teen party through Facebook

Police have used Facebook to thrawt a teenager's plan to hold a raucous party while their parents were out of town. Photo / Stephen Parker

A Bay of Plenty teenager who arranged to throw a raucous party while their parents were out of town has had the plan thwarted by police, who got wind of it through Facebook.

Western Bay of Plenty area commander Inspector Mike Clement said the high school-aged organiser intended to sell 150 tickets at $5 each, however, many more people indicated that they were going to attend.

Neither the organiser's parents nor the property owner knew about it, he said.

"As you can imagine, this number of young people, combined with alcohol and no parental or security supervision could have just been a recipe for disaster.

"Organising and promoting an event this way can lead to large numbers of people attending, with unexpected and unforeseen consequences such as disorder, crime and other harm."

Police informed the teenager's parents of the impending chaos, and they returned home and ensured it would not occur.

Mr Clement said while young people had to take responsibility for keeping themselves safe, adults also needed guide them to make the right choices in high-pressure environments.

"There is nothing wrong with well planned and supervised gatherings for young people. But please, as a parent, make sure you are part of your young person's life. Get an understanding of where they are going, who they are going with and help them develop their own personal safety plan if something goes wrong."

Last November, social networking sites were used to organise a gathering of about 130 drunk and disorderly youths on Auckland's North Shore, some of whom threw bottles at police.

- NZPA