Observer Comment: Minority spoils happy occasion for the majority

Four teenagers were arrested at the Down following Bexhill High School’s leavers’ party - and it has emerged that some of the youths were given alcohol to take along with them by their parents.

Most of the town’s youngsters are well-mannered and positive, but here the adage that the minority can spoil an occasion for the majority holds true.

While nobody wants to be a killjoy, there is a limit to which celebrations can be taken and this gathering clearly overstepped the mark.

Not only did this incident severely tie up the police force’s resources, potentially leaving officers in a bind in a true emergency, it’s also an embarrassment for the youngsters who conducted themselves well.

A certain amount of blame must be attached to any parent who gave their child alcoholic drink.

Without a doubt alcohol fuelled the anti-social element of the party, and Inspector James Scott is well within his rights to remind parents that it is against the law for those aged under 18 to drink in a public place.