MUM CHASES AFTER FIREWORK PRANK YOUTHS

The youths had put a firework inside the pumpkin set outside by her seven-year-old son for Hallowe’en and the explosion then damaged the fascia of the house.

Now she says her son, who has autism, was so terrified by the noise he cannot go to sleep in his own bed.

But when Joanne Beazer of Roundacres Way followed the gang on Sunday evening to give them a piece of her mind, one of them threw a lit firework directly at the car and she had to turn back.

Joanne on Monday told the Observer: “The trick or treaters came round with no problem and I had put some pumpkins out on my doorstep.

“At 8.45pm there was this almighty explosion - a neighbour saw these youths run up and put a firework inside the pumpkin.

“He told me which way they had gone and I set off in the car to follow them.

“I found them down by Haslam Crescent where they were doing it again.

“I wound down the window and shouted at them to tell them the damage they had done to my house.

“But they picked up a firework and threw it at my car.

“I have got 17-year-old and 22-year-old boys who would not dream of doing something like that.”

Joanne is furious at the effect of the prank on her son and said: “It has taken years to get my seven-year-old to bed on his own and he has only just managed it in the last month.

“Now we are back to square one again.

“I am so angry. If they lived a day of my life maybe they would have some understanding of the damage they have caused.

“I don’t mean structural damage, I mean damage within the home, within the family unit.”

Joanne called Sussex Police to report the incident and is hoping that anyone with information will call in with it on 0845 60 70 999.

She added: “I know these youths are not going to own up.

“But they might have gone round the estate bragging about what they have done.

“They just don’t think about the consequences.”

Inspector James Scott, of Bexhill police, said: “We have done what we can and investigated and pursued this just like any other incident of anti-social behaviour - the police do take this sort of incident very seriously.”

On a brighter note he added that this year’s Hallowe’en passed “very peacefully” in Bexhill, with a reduced number of nuisance calls.