Caught red-handed

Thursday nights aren't generally known to be all that busy, although in the pub/club trade, that's when the weekend starts. I'd already done the lock down and closed the gates. As I was heading back up the driveway, I heard loud drunken singing in the near distance. Unfortunately it was outwith the park at the time, so I couldn't do anything, except pray that they were heading to town and not onto the site.

Ten minutes later, I saw figures moving at the bottom of the first field and knew straight away that it had to be the drunken singers. I made my way down the field and saw the three figures walking to the corner. Nothing unusual there, I thought, as there was a van parked up in that corner. It was only when I got closer to the bottom of the field that the three persons, noisily, made their way over the hedge. Something is going on here. So I decided to walk back up and round to see where they disappeared off to. I came out the bottom of the driveway and saw no one. I walked round the front of the park and back in via the ped. entrance.

I'd seen the three coming out the toilet block, so I decided to go over and have a look to see if there was any damage. Surprise, surprise. There was. Just as I was in the doorway of the female toilets, I heard someone coming out of the next door. I waited about five seconds before going to investigate.

Tents are not permitted in this field, so when I saw the young male going into the two tents opposite the toilet block I knew something wasn't right. I walked over and had a quick look round them. Just as I suspected. No ticket.

It was at that point Alex radioed me for the nightly report. I explained the two tents without tickets and was advised if they weren't going to quieten down, then call him back. I took my own insight into the current situation and decided that I wasn't having these people on my park and asked them to leave.

All I can say about what happened next is down to karma. As soon as the three came out of their tents and started to "pack away"* the tents, the heavens opened and down came the rain. I was positively beaming on the inside, but managed to keep my serious face on for the duration. I was quite happy to stand there making sure that they "packed away"* their tent and left the park. Needless to say, they weren't. All three were drunk and not one of them were over the legal age. Eventually, they had packed their tent and were heading out. Not before one of the party had kicked the fence in on the way out.

At that point Alex radioed me for an update.

"How are they? Have they settled down yet?"
"No. I decided that they weren't going to, so I asked them to leave."
"OK, we don't need people like that on the park anyway. Did they leave quietly?"
"No. They made a lot of noise and one of them kicked the fence in on the way out."
"They damaged the fence?"
"Affirmative."
"I'll be down in a couple of minutes."

So I made my way back to reception to wait for Alex, when I realised that the ejected party hadn't really gone too far. They were standing at the bottom of the driveway.

A couple of minutes passed and Alex arrived on site to see the damage caused. Needless to say, he wasn't best pleased that some young ruffians had been kicking the proverbial out of his fence.
"Did you see them do this?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. We can get them charged for criminal damage."

Alex made a quick call to the local Police station and we both headed back out to the gate. The offenders were still on scene.

"I'm the Park Manager. I believe you've caused damage to my property?"
"What?"
"You kicked the fence in, there are witnesses to the event."
"What? One guy against us three?"
"No, there are some guests who have come forward as well."
"Oh. . . right. . . um. . ."

At that point, a taxi pulled up. Obviously the deviants were wanting to make a quick getaway. Sadly though, it wasn't to be. As the taxi driver didn't want them bringing a large, heavy and very wet tent into his taxi.

Then the Police pulled up and off they ran. I went back into the first field to make sure they didn't try and get back onto the site while Alex spoke to the Police. They didn't try and get back on site, but the Police did a quick search for them and couldn't find them.

So it was then the long, drawn out process of giving a statement to the Police. Sadly though, for one of the offenders, I went to school with his brother. So I was able to give the Police not only his name, but his address also.

As Alex finished his statement, a large taxi went past empty and two minutes later, it was seen leaving with people in it. After a bit of convincing from Alex to the Police Officer, they managed to radio to their colleagues and get the vehicle stopped.

Then the news came back that the taxi had been successfully stopped, but it was empty. So they asked the driver where he had dropped his fare. He told them and the Police drove round there and found the offenders, minus the tent, nearby.

I've had to watch what I say in this post, as it's now a legal matter as the case will be taken to court, etc.

* - When I say "take down." All they did was remove the support poles from the tent and throw them inside the tent. Then proceed to lift the entire tent and contents like a body-bag.