Parents Drag Kids To McDonald's To Apologise For Running Riot

Things had already been bad at one particular UK branch of McDonald's, but they got even worse after a group of ten teens reportedly hurled verbal abuse - and even spat at - a manager there.

Anti-social behaviour was already a problem at the store, in Middleton town centre in Greater Manchester. As a result one member of staff had taken to wearing a body camera, which captured the shocking scene as the teens ran rampage through the building, also throwing food and rubbish.

Thanks to the video - as well as corresponding CCTV footage from a nearby Tesco Extra - local police worked with schools in order to identify all ten culprits, and the children, all aged between 11 and 14, have been taken into the store by their parents and made to say sorry.

Police brought parents - with their children in tow - into stations to show them the footage of their kids' behviour and, as PC Stuart Ockwell told Manchester Evening News, every single one was 'horrified' at what they saw. After watching the videos, he explained, the parents all marched their children over to the restaurant and made them apologise.

Each of the children is now being referred to the Youth Offending Team, who will work with them to help steer them away from crime.

But two of the children could be cautioned for a public order offence and a common assault offence in relation to the spitting, and officers have warned that anybody causing trouble in the town centre will be found and identified.

PC Ockwell said: "It's a really positive result. The parents have been very supportive and there's been no trouble since. It was nice that the parents got to see what their kids had been up to.

"If parents think their kids are part of anything like this, they should call them and get them out of there. They need to know that they will be identified."

Which all sounds very Big Brother-esque - is constant surveillance the solution? Either way, let's hope the children have all learned their lesson.

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Topics: UK News, Greater Manchester, McDonald's

Mischa Pearlmen

Mischa is a freelance journalist usually based in either New York or London. He has written for Kerrang!, Record Collector, NME, the New York Observer and FLOOD magazine, among others. Contact him at [email protected]