A mother whose 50th birthday party erupted into a brawl has told of how she was ‘punched in the boobs’ while a guest who started the scrap ended up with a tooth knocked out.
As the number of people watching a video of the mayhem on social media soared to more than a million, Lisa Keegan, from Colne, Lancashire, insisted today: ‘We are not a rough family – but that day it all got out of hand.’
Lisa said her birthday celebration started off in a civilised way with 15 guests enjoying a spread of food including a cheese board, sandwiches and a birthday cake in her shaded back garden.
But carnage began to unfold as the drink started flowing and the partygoers moved to the sloping front lawn so they could soak up the rays of the setting sun outside her home in north west England.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Lisa told how her daughter Colleen, 33, and a friend’s teenage grandson first crashed to the floor after their bench collapsed.
Remarkably, Colleen did not spill a drop of her spritzer, but then things became ‘proper lairy’.
A mother whose 50th birthday party erupted into a brawl has told of how she was ‘punched in the boobs’ while a guest who started the scrap ended up with a tooth knocked out. Lisa Keegan is pictured
The fight was sparked by Adam, pictured in the white t-shirt, jokingly grabbing an e-cigarette from a teenager who was also t the party. Tony, right, ended up throwing punches at his mother-in-law who shouted at him to stop
Lisa’s daughter Colleen, pictured, was pushed out of her chair in the melee with her mum shouting for her to help her break up the fight. Lancashire Police confirmed that they attended the incident and took one of the men home
Lisa, who has a serious health condition which prevents her from working, said: ‘I always have a garden party for my birthday and this year was special with it being my 50th and the Queen’s Jubilee.
‘The weather did not let us down but unfortunately one of my guests did.’
Lisa said she invited along an acquaintance, Adam Petriv, who she sees every day when she walks her two dogs.
She said ‘He brought along a fancy bottle of vodka for me as a present – but when I told him I preferred gin, he drank it himself.
‘That was a mistake because he’s on medication and said he hadn’t had a drink for years. Well, it didn’t agree with him.’
Tony, pictured centre, and Adam, pictured left, started throwing drunken punches at each other as Lisa, right, tried to break them apart. Other guests then started to get involved in the all-out brawl during the boozy birthday bash
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Lisa told how her daughter Colleen, 33, and a friend’s teenage grandson first crashed to the floor after their bench collapsed (pictured)
Lisa said Adam who lives opposite her mother began winding up a 13-year-old guest, mocking his ear-ring and the e-cigarette he’s allowed to keep his Tourette’s and ADHD under control.
She said: ‘He was bang out of order…. just causing trouble and insulting people. My daughter’s boyfriend Tony looks out for the lad and told Adam to shut up.
‘Adam then said some personal stuff to Tony and they started fighting. It wasn’t a proper fight. Kitten punches is what I’d call it, but Tony still managed to knock out one of Adam’s teeth and bloody his nose.
‘Adam said the tooth was due to come out at the dentist so that saved someone a job.
‘I tried to separate them, but Tony was so drunk he started hitting me and not Adam. I was punched in the boobs, the back all over. This is Colne for you. We are not a rough family but that day it all got out of hand.’
As the chaos unfolded, former factory worker Colleen tried to sit in a chair on the sloping lawn but immediately toppled out of it.
Lisa, who has compared herself to Mimi Maguire from the hit TV drama Shameless, told her friend Sue Johnson to video what was going on as the brawl erupted.
Lisa, who has a serious health condition which prevents her from working, said: ‘I always have a garden party for my birthday and this year was special with it being my 50th and the Queen’s Jubilee’ (pictured with her friend Sue Johnson)
As the number of people watching a video of the mayhem on social media soared to more than a million, Lisa Keegan, from Colne, Lancashire, insisted today: ‘We are not a rough family – but that day it all got out of hand’
But she soon asked her mother Patricia Keegan, 76, to ring the police because she was so spooked by what was happening.
As she poured herself a stiff gin and tonic, Lisa said: ‘I was worried by how it was going.
‘I had to pick up a chair at one point to ward off Tony who didn’t know what he was doing. I must have looked like a lion tamer, but I was dealing with pussycats.
‘The police came. They were great and drove Adam home. A couple of hours later he came back having cleaned himself up and put new clothes on. He was trying to be nice to everyone then.
‘I cannot say he spoiled my birthday because it was hilarious and one I’ll remember the rest of my life. But I won’t be inviting him next year, not a chance.’
Lisa, who lost two dining chairs and a bench in the carnage, said she eventually went to bed at 11.30pm only for her mother to wake her up as she had left her door keys behind.
She went on: ‘Then we noticed that some other neighbours at the back were also having a party so we joined in with them until 2am.’
Tony Afzal, 52, the other star of what has been dubbed the worst fight ever, said he had to apologise to his mother-in-law for hitting her rather than his intended target.
The former welder, who has been dating Colleen for three years, said: ‘It was mayhem. We had all had too much to drink and I didn’t really know what I was doing.
‘I just wasn’t going to allow Adam to pick on a kid so I did my best. After a minute I was absolutely knackered and just lying on the grass. I’m no boxer. It was just a banter and a laugh. No-one got hurt.’
Other guests at the drunken birthday party were forced to get involved after a pile in of people on the two men. One woman can be seen trying to hold off a third man while Lisa grapples on the floor with Tony and Adam
For his part, Adam who is also unemployed, said: ‘It was more like shadow boxing. We’d had one too many drinks, then we had a few cross words and that’s what happens.
‘I didn’t mean any ill intentions. And we had a laugh and a joke about it later on. It was more a drunken mess than anything else.
‘I’ve done worse and that’s why I don’t drink. It’s the first time I’ve drank in five years. We sat in the heat drinking and then all that went on. At least people got a laugh out of it.’
Several of Lisa’s neighbours on the terraced street expressed their lack of surprise at the turn of events which went viral after Colleen posted it with the caption, ‘this is how birthday celebrations end’.
Adam and Tony say they have made up since the incident, describing it as ‘shadow boxing’ and a ‘right drunken mess’. Other members of the party can be heard laughing as the fight breaks out
One said: ‘It wasn’t a great surprise to us. Lisa’s lovely, a very friendly lady who will always say hello, but whenever the sun comes out she does like a drink. Her friends and family are just the same.’
Another added: ‘They went to another neighbourhood party last year and it was so noisy we shouted at them to keep it down because of getting the kids to sleep.
‘They thought it was someone else on the street who had shouted and gave them a right mouthful.’
Lisa said most of her neighbours thought it was ‘hilarious’.
‘One of them has written nasty comments on social media,’ she said, ‘but she’s not a nice person anyway. All her kids have been taken off her.
‘There’s bound to be a bit of bother but I will take no notice. I’m looking forward to next year’s birthday already.’
