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Facebook party hell at £1.2m mansion
The teenagers learned of the party through Facebook
A FATHER was savagely beaten as he tried to defend his luxury home from a gang of teenage gatecrashers at his daughter’s 13th birthday party.
Sixty uninvited older teenagers conned their way into the £1.2m home of Shaun Beverley on the exclusive Church Drive estate in Lytham, after learning about the party through messages on social-networking website Facebook.
Mr Beverley told the group they had 10 minutes to leave.
But instead the mob turned on the 45-year-old architect. He was punched to the floor, kicked and had objects thrown at him, leaving him with horrendous injuries.
Blackpool Magistrates Court heard one of the attackers was a 16-year-old boy who the court was told lives in a plush seven-bedroom house himself.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted assaulting Mr Beverley on July 7 this year.
The court heard the youth, who was not invited to the party, threw three punches at his victim before others joined in the attack.
District Judge Jeff Brailsford was told the group talked their way into Mr Beverley’s property, which had electric gates, by using an intercom and claiming they knew someone at the party.
Many had turned up to his daughter’s party after being alerted to it by messages on Facebook.
The judge told the teenager: “You were part of a pack mindset which led to this man suffering a vicious and horrendous attack trying to defend his home and his garden in an entirely proper manner.
“You will forever regret what you did to this man.”
Brett Chappell, defending, said his client apologised unreservedly for what he did.
Mr Chappell said: “He wants to go into the Army. When he was shown the photographs of the injuries suffered by an innocent man he was totally ashamed and accepts he was a catalyst for what happened.”
The youth was given a nine-month referral order during which he may have to meet his victim face-to-face as part of his punishment.
He must also pay Mr Beverley £150 compensation and £50 court costs.
Mr Beverley, a trained electrician originally from Poulton, spent four years converting the 1970s Lytham property into a super stylish, contemporary luxury home.
It cost £580,000 to buy the private and secluded site on Church Drive and £190,000 to carry out the project.
Mr Beverley’s transformation of the ranch-style bungalow led to him being awarded ‘Best renovation and overall winner’ in the Daily Telegraph Homebuilding and Renovating Magazine Awards in 2009.
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Weather for Lytham
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
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Light rain
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