PICTURES: Gatecrashing teens trash Worthing family home

Julia and Robert Anscomb went away for the night to London on Friday, February 22, leaving Mrs Anscomb's 15-year-old daughter at their home in Alberta Road to have a sleepover with two or three friends.

But when they arrived home the following day, after a phone call to say the sleepover had gone "wrong", they found more than 50 teenagers had gatecrashed, causing nearly 5,000-worth of damage to the newly-decorated home.

Click on the view gallery link to see larger version of the photographs showing the extent of the damage.

Mrs Anscomb, 37, said: "We feel totally violated. We are devastated and can't believe this has happened. How could anyone do this?"

Trail of destruction

The family dog, five-month-old Bailey, had been drugged and was comatose on the kitchen floor. He was found chewing pills when the couple got home. Bailey has since recovered.

Their new 600 fridge was scratched with a knife and 50-worth of food inside "annihilated".

The sink was over-flowing with used glasses, including commemorative glasses Mr and Mrs Anscomb were given when they married in May.

Most of the laminate flooring and carpets, and the kitchen worktops, were caked in mud.

Beer cans and empty alcohol bottles littered the house and garden. The gatecrashers also drank a bottle of rum the couple had brought back from their honeymoon.

All the beds in the house had been slept in and underwear was found in Mrs Anscomb's eight-year-old daughter's bed. The canopy over her bed was ripped down, her laptop stolen and drugs were found in the room.

Drugs were found throughout the house.

Knives not belonging to the family were found and teaspoons had gone missing.

Lights were broken in the front garden and Mr Anscomb's van was broken into and tools stolen.

The walls in the bedroom used by two foreign students were covered in graffiti tags and cuff links and a passport stolen. A football shirt was also ripped.

The couple have discovered there were six people in their bed at one time.

57 telephone calls were made using the house phone.

Other items stolen included two laptops, an iPod, a mobile phone, black leather jacket and jewellery, totalling 2,000.

Mrs Anscomb said: "We really didn't recognise the place when we got home.

"We went from room to room to see what they had done, trying to get over the shock.

"We had gone away for my husband's birthday and we had agreed to let her have two or three friends over.

"I was aware there was alcohol in the house, but we trusted her.

"My mum was looking after my eight-year-old daughter. Our students weren't in the house at the weekend, either."

Mrs Anscomb's eldest daughter is currently staying with a friend.

"Parents are not allowed to discipline their children any more. She is now refusing to come home and I can't seem to do anything about it unless I go to court," Mrs Anscomb said.

"I have packed her bags and moved her things out to her dad's house, but she still refuses to leave her friend's house.

"Kids are doing this sort of thing and then running off and not facing their responsibilities."