I didn’t go there (just as well – if I still lived in Reading I probably would have done as I have friends in Swindon) but I saw the post on SJ (which was from a chap I trust to post accurate info)

The scum were locals who as you say were trying to nick a car. Parties in Swine Don and the surrounding areas have been blighted by such types before..

They were actually ejected from the rave by the rest of the party people, but not without hurting a few and managing to run away without being arrested.

Apparently the reason the cops turned up is because of the trouble – someone must have called 999 – but at this point the only way to correctly deal with it is to restrain the thieves with minimum force and hand them over to the cops (or at least dump them outside the building where cops will find them); however cops aren’t going to tolerate people playing vigilanté in front of their very eyes.

it seems what did happen is that the ravers decided to give the scum a kicking inside out of the view of the bobbies but the thieves broke free and ran away after receiving a few blows.. (mind you probably better than a lynch mob and people getting done for GBH/manslaughter)

now all thats happened is that cops would have seen the aftermath of a full-scale fight as they arrived (how do they know that the lads running away aren’t actually the victims?) and then will put down on their report that “raves are a flashpoint for violent incidents and vigilanté justice. ” and justify further clampdowns…