I dont really think that it qualifies for the t-shirt but.......

[SoulKiss]

Having said goodbye to everyone @ Soho Sq, I didnt even get onto Shaftsbury Avenue from Greek St before I had to have a Fireman help me lift the Zed off my left leg and back up onto 2 wheels.......

An open and cut t-shirt case I hear you yell.....

Nay, say I, and I'll tell you why.

The reason the Zed ended up that way was due to some ****ed up idiot who took offence at my presence....

The events go as such....

I was approaching the junction onto Shaftbury Ave from Greek St, usual situation of pedestrians everywhere.

So, I haul in the clutch and blip the throttle to alert them to my presence, hoping that this will now cause them to stop streaming onto the road, so that I can get out onto the Ave.

Well I get a mouthful of abuse from one guy, then feel a thump on the back of my head from where he has swung at me, then after I have twisted round to see whats going on, the bike is going over, taking me with it, pinning my leg under it.

So I get out from under it and there is this guy there giving me a hand to pick it up, who I then spot is a Fireman from the station across the road - he says that he and his colleagues saw what happened, that they think the guy thta did it got onto a tour-bus thats just parked there and do I want them to call the cops.

I say yes and then decline their offer of parking the bike in front of the station, instead opting to park the bike in front of the bus, so as to make sure its going nowhere until the cops arrive.

Well the cops arrive, talk to the firemen then come over to talk to me, I give them my details and tell them my story as above.

At this point I am advised that it sounds like common assault, which would warrent charges etc, but how would I like to proceed - I tell the officer that if the guy is on the bus, and that if he apologises etc I would probably leave it at that.

They then go have a look on the bus, and from my description haul the guy off, I tell them that it WAS him.

However after they talk to him, he claims that I was riding like a maniac and he just pushed.

At this point I make it known to the cops that the "letting off with an apology" option is not going to be good enough.

Its at this point that my faith in the Police starts to fail, as here is someone, witnessed by 3 firemen as having assaulted me and pushed me hard enough to drop the bike, with me under it, and all they are going to do is make a Crown Report.

Now I am hoping that one of our resident officers can give me better insight into what that will entail, but at this time my appraisal of the system is that they will fill in the paperwork, it will go to the CPS who will say not enough evidence and that will be the end of it.

So I am now sitting here with a sore head, a sore knee and ankle and the bike is sitting with a bent clutch lever that I didnt notice until I was on my way home after speaking to the police, still when they call me tomorrow (or whenever) I will mention the damage to the bike then.

Oh and for the same officers that I am hoping will advise me on the Crown Report thing, I really dont blame the Officers that attended - its the System that I think sucks.

[Stu]

Bad news dude! :(
Hope it gets sorted
Maybe it's for your best that he didn't just apologise as now you might have more chance of getting damages* out of him.


*that you didn't notice at the time.

[Rorshach]

as for any injuries fella, go to your GP/ local urgent treatment center, and get them noted . it means that there is written proof of them, that cant be denied.

hope you get the result that is warrented here...good luck

[Jamiebridges123]

Yeah get yourself checked out.. hopefully it's just the clutch lever that's dented and no other damage!

That guy sounds like a knob. :/ Take it as far as possible.

[BanannaMan]

That's just wrong...in so many ways... :smt013

Had that happened where I live..(at the opposite end of the spectrum)..
The Police would have hauled him off the bus and after an ID from you (or the firemen) taken him to jail... during the course of which he had to be subdued.... and beaten the carp out of him.
Then he would be facing up to 10 years in prison ...but in this case probably only had to serve about 1 year.

No matter how you had been riding...that has no bearing on this case.
Are you free to commit violence against anyone whose driving doesn't meet your personal standards????
(if so I'm getting a set of givi panniers and mounting a RPG on each side)

What a load of ....!

Surely there is some recourse if the 3 firemen will agree to, or have already spoken to the Police as witnesses.
Fight the system!!!
I think you can win on this one.

Sorry for the rant....



Glad you are OK (the main thing) and hope the bike is sorted soon. :thumbsup:





However....

Since technically the bike was in an accident. (report filed, etc.)
And is damaged....
Sounds like an open and cut t-shirt case to me. :p

[davepreston]

plod have to do something about it and if i remember anything about london its cctv everywhere time to get hold of some tapes
3 pilars of the comunity and some grainy footage= one wingnut with a slap on the wrist from daddy judge
now equil recompence i think would be fairer, hit him with the bike the headbutt him with your lid on, thank you sweet and proportional justice

[husky03]

maybe you'll be lucky and find out that someone caught the events on there mobile phone

[Stu]

That's just wrong...in so many ways... :smt013

Yeah...you should have held it up ;)


:razz:

[ethariel]

Damn!

Glad you seem more or less ok, but you must think about the poor Z, maybe counciling for the poor wee thing?

[Baph]

This morning's paper reads: "SK gets happy slapped."

Sorry fella, couldn't resist. :)

You live in the big smoke, where things are bound to get heated occasionally. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time IMO. Nail his balls to the wall & move on to the next lemming.

[Graciepants]

i wouldnt be complaning if 3 firemen helped me pick up my bike..... ;)

thts really awful though, glad your ok and you didnt break the bike though :)

[Kinvig]

They didn't take him down the local station? Surely, the info from the witnesses would've guaranteed that? What exactly did the fire men see?


I hope this resolves itself.

With regards to t-shirt ownership, I think we need a new one just for muggings/bike jackings!

[yorkie_chris]

Have had similar attempt made in Leeds, so now I just redline it and dump the clutch. When the front wheel is at b0llock height they soon run for cover.

[Spiderman]

Ah SK i'm sorry to hear this mate and sadly not at all suprised by the police. Did the fact he was getting on a tour bus mean he is not resident in this country...hence why the cops didn't wanna add his finngerprints and DNA to their ever growing Database maybe?
Just a thought as most londoners dont travel by tour bus, innit. We's got too much street credz for dat blud.

Oh and no way do you get the t shirt for dropping your bike on yourself....and making up some dodgy story to cover it all up ;)

[SoulKiss]

Ah SK i'm sorry to hear this mate and sadly not at all suprised by the police. Did the fact he was getting on a tour bus mean he is not resident in this country...hence why the cops didn't wanna add his finngerprints and DNA to their ever growing Database maybe?
Just a thought as most londoners dont travel by tour bus, innit. We's got too much street credz for dat blud.

Oh and no way do you get the t shirt for dropping your bike on yourself....and making up some dodgy story to cover it all up ;)

Nah he was from within the M25 - down Chislehurst I think I heard on of the cops say - Will find out exactly when I have to get his address from them to sick a lawyer on him for damages.......

Oh and he was white, about the same build as me and late 40s, early 50s....... You know the extras they usually get in when the Mitchell Bruv in Eastenders are getting in some "muscle" - he could have been one of them.

Might claim for a new lid due to the fact he punched it......

[yorkie_chris]

With a bit of luck he will accept a caution from the coppers, that way he's got no "it wasn't me" defense for a civil claim...

[Venom]

Glad there's not much damage to your bike.

What is the world coming to, attacking tough 8 packed superheros on their bikes?

[Kinvig]

any updates?

[SoulKiss]

any updates?

Nope, no calls from the police over the weekend and I couldn't get through to them this morning - got a recorded message that they were too busy and that I should leave my name, phone number and CAD reference on their voicemail and someone would call me back.......

About to try and call them back now.

[anna]

Let us know how it goes. Doesnt that stretch of road have CCTV?

[SoulKiss]

Heres hoping there wont be too many of these Daily Updates but here goes.

No calls from the police over the weekend, so I look up the number on the web and call the non-emergency number.

The operator is very nice, and after trying to put me through she gives me a Direct Dial number, I try it and get a "Call could not be completed" message.

So, its back to the operators, this time they find a non-busy line and I get through, only problem is I am soon dumped to a "we are too busy to talk to you, leave a name, number and your crime-reference and we will get back to you"

I would guess it was about 10 when I left that message.

Nothing from anyone by 4:30 so I call back to the operator number, again there is no open line for them to put me thorough on, so I get yet another Direct Dial number - this one 2 digits away from the 1st - this one is not dead, but gives me an engaged tone.

So I try the number a few more times and eventually get through to a person.

I now find out that the "CAD" number I have is useless and not on their system, so after taking my name and address I get told that the officer dealing will have to call me and as he's operational he's out on the street and after taking my number I am told he will call me at some point.

Which is what I was told on Friday night.

So basically 3 days later and no further forwards.

[captainsmelly]

Wow just seen this tread, that's terrible mate. Things like this really don't help people have faith in the so called justice system do they.

[SoulKiss]

Another update.......

Last night after spotting more damage (ok so I didn't really look - hey it was dark on Friday night) I decided to pop to the West End Central Police Station on Saville Row, which is where the officers I dealt with on Friday night are based.

My thoughts were to get one of the nice officers to come out and witness and record the damage and get it added to the crime report, which you would think, would be simple.

So I speak to the PCSO on the front desk, who is a nice guy, but it takes him forever to try and get any record of the incident - and in the end I dont think he found anything at all.

There wasn't anyone available to come out and look at the bike, so I was advised to just take pictures and advise any updates via the Crime Management Unit number - the same number I called yesterday who just told me to wait until an officer got in touch.

So anyways enough of the hitting a blue-painted brick wall, heres the damages....

1) The clutch lever - £13.95 to replace.

2) Alternator cover - £137.92

3) Alternator cover gasket - £17.88

4) Belly Pan - £79.00

Labour to fit Alternator Cover - £55.

Prices includ VAT but not delivery where that would be required.

Also considering that I was hit round the head, my lid may need replacing........

Pictures of damage below.

[RatchetJob]

Bloody hell mate, i've just read this thread.

Glad you're alright.

I know the police are busy but there's no excuse for these sort of cases "falling through the cracks".

Make sure this guy gets what he deserves and you get compensation for your losses and damages.

Good Luck!

[RichT]

I've only just seen this case as well SK. What an a*se. Keep going with it. The idiot shouldn't get away with it.

As for the "process" - perhaps a daily stop by the station you've visited is in order until they get on it? I imagine you could claim these expenses also.

Glad you're alright though and hopefully Z will be sorted soon.

[benp1]

Hope it all gets sorted mate

[wizurd]

that sucks. Keep the updates coming though cause will be interested to see what the coppers do eventually do about it. I would have thought its got to be some sort of assault. If he has hit you and it's been witnessed then thats it. Plus can't see him claiming self defence when he hit you from behind.

[SoulKiss]

I've only just seen this case as well SK. What an a*se. Keep going with it. The idiot shouldn't get away with it.

As for the "process" - perhaps a daily stop by the station you've visited is in order until they get on it? I imagine you could claim these expenses also.

Glad you're alright though and hopefully Z will be sorted soon.

There is no point on doorstepping them - it wont get me any closer to it being dealt with as I cant actually get past the PCSO on the front desk.............

All I can do is keep a record and eventually if necessary use it as a basis for a complaint.

[SoulKiss]

that sucks. Keep the updates coming though cause will be interested to see what the coppers do eventually do about it. I would have thought its got to be some sort of assault. If he has hit you and it's been witnessed then thats it. Plus can't see him claiming self defence when he hit you from behind.

Due to the injuries sustained due to the bike being on me I was told at the scene that it would be classed as Common Assault - which is an arrestable offence.

Even if I had come down Greek St at 100mph on my back wheel there is no justification for a member of the public to strike another member of the public, so my actions have no bearing on proceedings at all apart from the fact that the 1st physical contact I had was him hitting me on the back of the head.

Something else that occurs to me is that I was struck twice and by the way the bike fell, it was obvious that ashe had been on my left when it all started, he had to have come all the way round the bike in order to push me over on to the left side of the bike.

Update will continue - this is my log of events so that I have something to refer to in the future (sorry if I am boring anyone)

[Spiderman]

When a woman in a car, who was on the phone ran into the back of me as we were moving i had no choice but call the cops.
They arrived and promptlt told her to go away, without any charges, then when iasked them to make a note of the damage to my bike their reply was "we're not here to record details for your insurance claim, do that yourself" so dont waste your time trying to get them to look at the bike mate. Take pics, send emails instead of making phone calls if you can as they are a far better record.
And good luck mate.

[the white rabbit]

I read about this incident on another forum, likely to be the perpetrator. See here (http://www.rrr.co.uk/)

[SoulKiss]

I read about this incident on another forum, likely to be the perpetrator. See here (http://www.rrr.co.uk/)

Git :toss:










:p:o:D:rolleyes:;)

[Kinvig]

I read about this incident on another forum, likely to be the perpetrator. See here (http://www.rrr.co.uk/)

LOL! ;o)

[SoulKiss]

Update.

Well I called the general Met number and got someone who wasnt really just trying to get rid of me.

She did a great job of trying to track this down, and in the end, she did.

So I was told that its actually Charing Cross thats dealing with this issue, not West End Central, and I was given the name and 3 phone numbers for the DS thats dealing with this.

So I called, and she was away from her desk, so I left details, however when she called back I was away from my desk....

So I called again, and again she was doing something else, but sure enough I got another call from her.

She was apologetic about the time it had taken for anyone to get back to me, and I advised her that the main reason I was chasing it was to add the details of the damage to the bike to the records.

She asked me if I wanted to take it further, which I said I did.

So next step is to give a statement, which I can do via email, then just go down and sign it, rather than it taking a couple of hours to do it all there at the time,

The one thing that I feared but expected is the fact that despite the number of CCTV cameras in London, the incident was not captured on a single one.

More updates to follow......

[the_lone_wolf]

i'm beginning to think that telling everyone there's 1000s of cameras in london is a scam to keep the daily mail in business, we had £20,000 worth of kit stolen in an area where it looked like it'd recently rained CCTV warning stickers and not a single camera actually existed in real life...

hope you get this sorted, but somehow my confidence doesn't rise very far...

[Rorshach]

what about the firies at Soho mate? doesnt their account mean anything?

[SoulKiss]

what about the firies at Soho mate? doesnt their account mean anything?

The DS is going to have to have a chat with them as independent witnesses (missed that bit out)

[Bluepete]

CCTV is not and never will be what we expect of it. That is until programmers can write software that can "see" or predict criminal behaviour and the cameras are good enough to be able to actually recognose the person it's pointed at.

With regards your job SK, the fact that a DS is dealing with it is good, plus the fact that the three water faries all saw it and will give statements to verify your story. It'll drag on, guarenteed, but if CPS decide to charge the bloke, I would expect a guilty plea on first appearence in front of the beak.

Stick with it, don't be fobbed off and keep phoning. Cops hate nothing more than getting mithered and will sort it out faster to stop you nagging!

See, insider info! You just can't beat it.

Pete ;)

[SoulKiss]

CCTV is not and never will be what we expect of it. That is until programmers can write software that can "see" or predict criminal behaviour and the cameras are good enough to be able to actually recognose the person it's pointed at.

With regards your job SK, the fact that a DS is dealing with it is good, plus the fact that the three water faries all saw it and will give statements to verify your story. It'll drag on, guarenteed, but if CPS decide to charge the bloke, I would expect a guilty plea on first appearence in front of the beak.

Stick with it, don't be fobbed off and keep phoning. Cops hate nothing more than getting mithered and will sort it out faster to stop you nagging!

See, insider info! You just can't beat it.

Pete ;)

Oh another thing, he didn't get arrested at the scene because - and I quote - "He was with his family" - the DS seemed as shocked/disappointed with that decision as I was.

It also seems that this was passed around a bit within the station before she finally took it on - by that I mean that as no-one else was doing anything with it, she grabbed it - that is pure supposition based more on what wasnt said and "reading" the call for tone of voice etc.

I really don't think that I will have any problems as long as she is dealing with it, she was really good on the phone, besides, I have her email address so wont need to hang on the phone.

What I was hoping the CCTV would do is completely blow what his statement to the officers at the scene away and so show he had lied once already.

Mind you his case is already shakey - he claims he pushed me away for his own safety, yet from where he was that would have had the bike land on the other side.....

[SoulKiss]

Final Update.

The guy went into Charing Cross Police Station on Friday.

End result

Cautioned for Assault, charges of Criminal Damage dropped as no evidence that the damage was done in that incident.

Nothing I can do further aparently

So much for our great justice system.

[RatchetJob]

Nothing I can do further aparently

Not true.

Now that the police have his details and he has been cautioned for the incident you can formally request his information in order to persue a civil claim for the damage.

I would do it even if you thought you weren't going to get your money back as it will give this guy one more reason not to do it again.

Chances are you will win given the details you have, witnesses etc. a civil claim is much more straight forward than a criminal prosecution.

The fee for making a claim is 10% of the amount up to a maximum of £120 (the fee not the claim). You will get that back should you win.

[Spiderman]

not your week is it SK? But as Ratchet says above, i would take the civil action route and take this guy to court to pay for the damage.

[SoulKiss]

Not true.

Now that the police have his details and he has been cautioned for the incident you can formally request his information in order to persue a civil claim for the damage.

I would do it even if you thought you weren't going to get your money back as it will give this guy one more reason not to do it again.

Chances are you will win given the details you have, witnesses etc. a civil claim is much more straight forward than a criminal prosecution.

The fee for making a claim is 10% of the amount up to a maximum of £120 (the fee not the claim). You will get that back should you win.

This had crossed my mind.....

Oh and aparently if I want a copy of the police report its going to cost £10.....

[Alpinestarhero]

what about witnesses etc?

[yorkie_chris]

If he's accepted the caution for assault that should simplify the damage claim.

[CoolGirl]

yeouch - sorry to hear. But if you need any help following up with the fire brigade, let me know (not sure if they'd have cctv on the station, but we can find out easily enough).

[ArtyLady]

Final Update.

The guy went into Charing Cross Police Station on Friday.

End result

Cautioned for Assault, charges of Criminal Damage dropped as no evidence that the damage was done in that incident.

Nothing I can do further aparently

So much for our great justice system.

Sorry to hear that SK, sounds fairly typical though doesn't it....if he'd dropped some litter however.....