‘It all got ruined’: Brisbane mum’s devastation as teen vandals destroy new home

It was supposed to be Ashlee Smallfield’s dream home but a group of teenagers smashed every window and covered almost every wall in graffiti.

Ashlee Smallfield’s dream home was almost ready to move into when teen vandals attacked – and flung her family into a living nightmare.

In a rampage that went on for three straight nights, the young criminals smashed every window and spray-painted walls, cabinets and carefully selected granite kitchen bench in the three-bedroom home in Brisbane’s northern suburbs.

They then boasted about their crimes on social media.

The front door of Ashlee Smallfield's newly built home, which was attacked by teen vandals before she and her family could move in. Picture: Supplied

Ashlee Smallfield's newly built home was attacked by teen vandals before she and her family could move in. Picture: Supplied

Ms Smallfield, who was in Europe with her wife, Gemma, and their young son at the time of the attack, heard the devastating news from her builder just before she was due to fly home.

“They smashed every single window in the house. They graffitied nearly every wall. Every single bench top was covered and ruined ... huge holes in the walls everywhere,” says the 35-year-old mum, who could not face seeing the devastation once she had returned to Brisbane.

“They were laughing about it (on social media). Apparently they thought it was funny, they though it was great. The last night they came back to take pictures and video of their work, proud of what they’d done.

“I was a mess, I just couldn’t pull myself together. I didn’t go to work for the whole week after we got back. I was just in tears every second.

“I was so excited to build our own home ... and it all got ruined. It was another five months before we could move in and up until we were moving in, I didn’t want to be there.”

Ashlee Smallfield says she was a “mess” after vandals attacked her brand new home. Picture: Supplied

“I still get nervous,” says 35-year-old Ashlee Smallfield. Picture: Supplied

Ms Smallfield tells her story in Lockdown Kids: How To Break A Generation, a four-part docu-series delving into the long-term impacts of placing the nation’s children into isolation during Covid-19.

She appears in episode four, which shines a light on the rise of youth crime for likes on social media and can be watched above.

Ms Smallfield says the graffiti attack not only took a heavy emotional toll on her and her wife, it also cost them financially.

With loans having to be extended and extra works to be completed, she says they were left $12,000 out of pocket.

Ashlee Smallfield and her wife, Gemma, at their new home. Picture: Supplied

The Mango Hill property after being attacked by vandals. Picture: Supplied

“We didn’t have a plan for that and we just have to find it and pay the banks back eventually,” she says.

“Kids are not going to think of that. They’re not going to think about all the extra thousands of dollars that we have to fork out.”

Ms Smallfield says a teenage boy was arrested by Queensland Police but his charges were later dropped.

Ashlee Smallfield's son in the front yard of their new home.Picture: Supplied

The couple’s home was one of the first to be built on the new estate in Mango Hill and Ms Smallfield believes its isolation made it a target for vandals.

Today, the neighbourhood has grown up around them and they have turned their place into a happy home.

“But I still get nervous,” she says. “Cars hooning really triggers me, I can’t handle it. I’m not sure if that will go away.”

Originally published as ‘It all got ruined’: Brisbane mum’s devastation as teen vandals destroy new home