Mischief Night: beyond a joke

IT IS a Yorkshire tradition that children have enjoyed for generations.

But increasingly Mischief Night seems to be getting out of hand.

The time-honoured pranks of knocking on doors or tapping on windows are not enough for some teenagers today.

Instead, they seem bent on turning November 4 into a night of terror for York residents.

Police and firefighters had to deal with an appalling catalogue of incidents on Mischief Night last year, which included:

* firefighters coming under attack from firework-throwing yobs in New Earswick as they battled to extinguish a burning car that had been set on fire by arsonists* arsonists setting fire to a car only inches from a house occupied by a disabled 88-year-old pensioner and her son in Huntington* a series of deliberately-started fires in rubbish bins.

The emergency services are so worried they have decided to step up their presence this year.

The police's Operation Carbene began on Hallowe'en and will continue on Mischief Night and Bonfire Night.

Up to 60 extra officers will be on special patrols across York on the lookout for troublemakers.

Firefighters too will be on special alert - especially on Mischief Night itself.

York fire chief Graham Buckle said Mischief Night yobbishness had been getting progressively worse over the last four years - culminating in last year's incidents.

"In my day it used to be knocking on doors and running away," he said.

"But it is out of all proportion now - throwing eggs at windows and criminal damage now seem to be the norm."

It was only a tiny minority of youths who were carrying things too far, Graham believed - but they were giving the night a bad name.

Much of it was down to peer pressure and youths egging each other on, he said.

"But they should think of the consequences for elderly people."

James Player, of Age Concern York, said the few days between Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night could be particularly frightening for vulnerable elderly people who lived on their own.

"If an elderly person is living on their own and there is a disturbance outside, they can be very frightened by it," he said.

James said he thought the vast majority of mischief was just that - thoughtless mischief by children who did not really want to upset people. But he urged parents to talk to their children and warn them about the consequences of their behaviour.

"Maybe make them think about their own grandparents," he said.

"Ask them how they would feel if somebody upset their own grandmother or grandfather."

The victims

It was on Mischief Night a year ago that "pranksters" forced open the door of a Peugeot car and pushed some fireworks inside.

The vehicle was parked in the drive of the Huntington home of 88-year-old disabled pensioner Margaret Snowden.

The car was burned out in the resulting blaze - and the heat cracked a window in Mrs Snowden's home, melted guttering and scorching fascia board.

Mrs Snowden's furious son, John, who looks after his mother, said she could easily have burned to death if firefighters had not responded so rapidly and the fire had spread to the house.

John, who now lives with his mother so he can look after her properly, said she was still affected by the incident a year later.

"She is trying not to let it worry her - but it is getting around to that time of year again," he said.

"I don't think she has really got over it. She is still frightened."

John, who is 57, said when he was young, Mischief Night had been a bit of harmless fun. "It was knocking on doors and running away, and that was about it," he said. "But now it is getting out of hand."

It was all very well police stepping up patrols for Mischief Night and Bonfire Night, he said - but that would not act as a deterrent unless the yobs responsible for dangerous or criminal behaviour were properly punished. It was only a small minority of teenagers, he said. "But they need to be sorted out. Otherwise they are going to end up killing someone."

Another woman who suffered from vandalism during last year's Hallowe'en also admitted today she was still dreading Mischief Night and Bonfire Night.

But the woman, who lives off Huntington Road, York, but does not want to be named, was full of praise for the police's efforts to prevent trouble recurring this week.

She said there had been high-visibility policing, including two patrol vehicles and a number of Police Community Support Officers, out on patrol for Hallowe'en. "The PCSOs were lovely," she said.

"I was shaking and nearly crying because of what happened last time, which I feared would happen again.

"They were very reassuring to me. It was fantastic."

Policeman

Police figures show that Mischief Might this year is likely to be the busiest night of the season, closely followed by Bonfire Night and Hallowe'en, according to Inspector Mark Khan of York police.

Antisocial behaviour in the past has ranged from people throwing flour and eggs at houses to more dangerous stunts, such as laying chains across roads.

"We've had reports of kids throwing fireworks, but I don't think they realise the danger they're putting themselves in," said Insp Khan, who is in charge of Operation Carbene, this year's police drive to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour on Hallowe'en, Mischief Night and Bonfire Night. "Every year we get the age-old problem of kids being blinded or hurt by fireworks, but to be fair, this year Hallowe'en was relatively quiet.

"I think Mischief Night has a fun element to it, but it depends what you do and who you're going to victimise.

"If it's fun with your friends and teasing in your family, then fine. It's when you go out and knock on elderly people's doors or cause damage that it becomes a lot more sinister. Some people go out because they want to frighten people."

In York, New Earswick was targeted last Mischief Night and areas such as Strensall, South Bank and around the Museum Gardens are common hot-spots.

"We do see an awful lot of good behaviour too," Insp Khan stressed.

"The way to calm Mischief Night down from The Press's point of view is to encourage families to be together on Mischief Night. I know it's difficult not to let your kids out, but try and know where they are. Tell them about the importance of bothering other people and how what seems like fun for one individual is actually quite frightening for another."

What children think of Mischief Night

MANY of the children at Westfield Primary School, in York, have not even heard of Mischief Night.

All of them have seen antisocial behaviour around Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night, though.

Eight-year-old Ebony Lee remembers how a boy threw eggs at her nana's windows when she stayed overnight.

Leah Woods, nine, saw a boy throw eggs at her windows, while Ollie James, ten, heard his mate's brother had stuffed fireworks up a car exhaust.

Nine-year-old Chloe Littlewood said she had seen a group of youths throwing stones at people when she was trick-or-treating, while Shannon Scholes, nine, had seen someone pushing a firework through a letter box.

None of them could imagine behaving similarly themselves, but they understand why some give in to temptation.

"They might do it to get a reputation with their friends," points out Ebony.

Chloe and Ollie have seen people misbehaving recently on news bulletins, and believe that could set a bad example.

Leah would not let others influence her, though.

"If my friends asked me to go out I would just say it's tea time and I couldn't come out," she said.

Head teacher Mark Barnett has felt the brunt of mischievous behaviour too.

Last week, he had to repaint his gate, after people threw paint over it. "I think it's time for Mischief Night to stop," he said.

"A lot of people on their own do not feel safe on Mischief Night.

"Most of the people I know go out trick-or-treating with parents and older people and that is how it should be.

"But Mischief Night, over the past few years, has become an excuse for most people to cause vandalism in their community.

"We can easily have fun on Bonfire Night and Hallowe'en, but there is no real excuse to cause worry to anyone, wherever they live and wherever they work and especially to elderly and single people in our community."

None of the children would like to see people's goodwill end on Hallowe'en, just because some people could not behave.

But they understand why some might feel that way.

"There is vandalism," said pupil Ashley Cussons, ten. "People don't like it when their stuff is destroyed."

The origins

Mischief Night is a tradition in Yorkshire and other areas of northern England, as well as Scotland, Ireland and the United States of America.

It is unclear precisely what its origins are - though Yorkshire linguist and historian Dr Arnold Kellett believes it is likely to be a "carry over" from Hallowe'en.

What has happened, he thinks, is that the trick-or-treat elements of Hallowe'en have, for some reason, transferred to November 4, the night before Bonfire Night.

That would make sense, he says, because York old boy Guy Fawkes, who was plotting the grandest mischief of all, was actually arrested just before midnight on November 4.

It is not thought to be a particularly old tradition.

According to sources, there are no records of the date being celebrated before the late 19th century.

The main feature of the day is that children and teenagers are given a certain amount of licence to play pranks and do mischief for their neighbours.

Traditional pranks carried out on the night include:

* knocking and tapping on doors and windows* daubing objects with paint or whitewash* smearing doorknobs with treacle* throwing eggs at homes and cars* tying together adjacent door handles to prevent either opening* removing gates from their hinges.

In Yorkshire, Mischief Night is also known as Miggy Night, Goosey Night, Tick-Tack Night and Trick Night.

Liverpudlians know it as Mizzie Night - but they celebrate it on October 30.