A group of men involved in a "horrific" brawl at a children's play centre in western Sydney that traumatised children and caused three men to be sent to hospital have been warned by police to turn themselves in.
Police are seeking an unspecified number of men over the melee, which plunged the indoor children's playground into chaos on the weekend.
"Now would be a good time to come to the police station, before we start chasing after you," Fairfield police Inspector Raven Maharaj said.
"It's a disaster really, shocking. It's horrific. The violence was perpetrated in front of children, and some have been left with scars."
On Saturday afternoon, three fathers were taken to hospital with injuries after a fight broke out between parents attending separate birthday parties at Lollipop's Playland & Cafe in Wetherill Park.
The Lollipop's Playland franchise's managing director, Tim Newman-Morris, said the fracas was "deeply troubling" and urged the instigators to hand themselves in.
"Explain your actions," he said. "We want to make sure they're caught. This is urgent."
Inspector Maharaj said the fight started after children had bumped into each other, leading to a man yanking the ponytail of a seven-year-old girl.
"That's how the whole thing commenced. You know what kids are like. They don't discriminate, they play and run into each other," he said.
The girl told her father, aged 48, that her hair had been pulled by a stranger. When the father confronted the man about the incident, he was knocked to the ground and attacked.
Footage captured on a mobile phone shows adults and children screaming as the father is slammed to the ground and repeatedly punched, kicked and attacked with a chair.
Children as young as two hid in the jungle gym. Dozens more stood just metres away, watching the fracas, terrified.
Inspector Maharaj said the police had obtained CCTV footage and other material from the playground operators and were still trying to identify the perpetrators.
"We don't know who they are at this stage. They left prior to us getting there. At this stage there is no suspicion they are known to police. It's too early in the game," he said.
"I know it seems like a slow process, but there were a substantial amount of people in this brawl, and we have to correlate [witness] statements with what's on the CCTV."
Fairfield police will be compiling witness statements on Monday and Tuesday.
The father and his two friends, aged 27 and 32, who came to his aid, were taken to Fairfield Hospital with cuts and bruising to their faces, heads, backs and hands.
The rival group fled the play centre in vehicles just after 4.30pm, police said.
The father and his son spent Monday morning with Fairfield police and the afternoon with specialist doctors. A family member told Fairfax Media the traumatised children were receiving counselling.
Mr Newman-Morris said he had never seen such "unacceptable" behaviour from parents in his 15 years in the children's playground business.
"We have 31 centres in three countries [Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia], and we have over 2 million guests per year. Never before have we seen anything like this," he said.
"We're very sorry, very upset it's happened, and we feel for everyone involved."
Thousands of Sydney parents have taken to social media to express their shock that such violent acts could occur in front of children.
"What an absolute disgrace, these men should hang their heads in shame. It is a bloody kids play area for goodness sake!" said one woman on Facebook.
"Pathetic display from adults who should be showing how to act, not how not to act," another said.
Others have offered parenting advice.
"First rule: Do not behave in a way you would not like your children to copy, especially bullying and physical assault. Second: Do not involve yourself in children's disputes or disagreements, let them work it out," said a Facebook user.
Family psychologist and author Michael Hawton said the perpetrators' "appalling" actions potentially had a traumatic effect on many of the children.
"Children are much more prone to the effects of violence because their sense of self hasn't been fully developed. What you've got are little minds that can't make sense of things in ways adults can," he said.
"The effects of violence on children are social and biological, it affects them at a nervous level. When something's frightening, it's really frightening for them."
He described the men who sparked the fight as "immature" and "unthinking".
"They haven't taken into account children are watching and it's really awful that they presume the end justifies the means, that the end is 'I'm going to get this person, and it doesn't matter what it costs,' " he said.
The centre says it is a popular party venue for babies, toddlers and school-aged children with slides, ball pits, jumping castles and a tea-cup ride.
Police have appealed for any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
With Rachel Olding
Do you know more? Email ehan@fairfaxmedia.com.au
