Driver smacked me in the face and broke my phone

Yesterday, I almost got ran over by a car who cut the corner coming onto my side of the road, I got pretty pissed off and asked what the fuck he was doing, he got really angry back, was swearing his head off (bitch this, bitch that) and I kicked his car- while still sitting on my bike, so not very hard at all. And I was going to cycle off but he got out of his car and smacked me across the face.
I'm a girl, so I was really not expecting that at all, and I wanted to fight back but was more afraid for my bike than anything else...which is a bit ridiculous but then again fighting back would only have got me into more shit. And I've only just finished putting my bike together and it's an absolutely beautiful thing.
Instead I tried to take a picture of his license plate with my phone- he grabbed my phone and threw it across the road against a wall, and then drove off.

This was at the very top of Brick lane, north of Bethnal Green Road.

My phone is properly broken, and its 3 months in to a 2 year contract, there were no witnesses and no cctv. I was in shock and it took me a couple of hours to calm down, and then I went to the police. Today I got an email to say that they've closed the case.

I'm just venting

If anyone has a smartphone going feel free to let me know.

Judith

Today I got an email to say that they've closed the case.
Make a complaint against the police.

Obtain the driver's name and address from the DLVA using a form V888, and sue them for the cost of the phone and any other damage.

Flippin heck! Bad shit. What a twat. Vent away.

I think you should complain about the police closing the case, police complaints authority. But it's easy for me to say that.

We have to be verrry careful about confronting drivers. This shows that.

Hope the bike is undamaged, at least.

tw2 I think the number plate record is now lost, phone with photo in got destroyed.

Sorry to hear about this. Is the phone fucked, or just screen fucked? Some places can retrieve data as long as the guts of the phone are ok. Also, even if the immediate area had no CCTV, the car itself might've been picked up on an earlier/later camera.

What model was the phone? You may be able to withdraw a memory card and browse the contents on a computer still.

Unless there is CCTV footage, or a witness, to the confrontation and assault then what can the police do about it? It seems unlikely the thug of a driver would admit to it and without evidence how could there be a prosecution?

what a dick. hope you manage to get the details and find the guy

did the police examine your phone for fingerprints / dna?

given the way the driver behaved it's possible he's known to the police and any prints / dna of his on your phone would link him to the incident.

If he isn't, if you were able to retrieve the photo you took of his car / nb plate, he could be traced, spoken to by the police and prints / dna swabs taken - again, if those matched anything on your phone, he would be linked to the incident.

I would speak to the police again and ask them to have your phone examined and any prints / dna preserved. then see if you can recover any pics you took from the damaged phone.

if no dna / prints on phone then still try and recover pic from phone as with nb plate police can ID owner and possibly driver. then you might be able to ID the man who was involved in the incident.

Christ, really hope this gets resolved :(
I've had three altercations with drivers running me off the road today whilst on phones and I'm in a foul mood, can't imagine how pissed off you must feel

Everyone: the police seem to be attempting to say to this victim 'we can do nothing'. Saying: 'ask them to now do loads of something' seems a bit naive. They don't want to know.

If this victim would like to take it further, they would need to get legal advice I guess.

Christ, really hope this gets resolved :(
I've had three altercations with drivers running me off the road today whilst on phones and I'm in a foul mood, can't imagine how pissed off you must feel

Don't think a really fucking holier-than-thou guy who faked his own death 2000+ years ago is likely to help either.

Regardless of your gender, unless you are prepared to get in a fight or run/ride like hell you shouldn't be kicking anyones car.

Not excusing the guys driving or behaviour.

That said, if you are proper beanless I don't mind chipping in a fiver along with others on here to help you towards a new phone.

this is awful, but being practical on the phone front, may be covered under house insurance or as my mrs pointed out by your bank (if Nat West as in Mrs case) where there was a policy attached to account and she destroyed hers by spilling coca cola in her handbag

failing that I know someone in industry and may be able to get a spare, it won't be latest technology but what features do you need ?

Instead I tried to take a picture of his license plate with my phone- he grabbed my phone and threw it across the road against a wall, and then drove off.

My phone is properly broken
Judith

Possibly know someone who may be able to help you get the image off the phone , will ask if that's a possibility

That said, if you are proper beanless I don't mind chipping in a fiver along with others on here to help you towards a new phone.

X2

Make a complaint against the police.

Obtain the driver's name and address from the DLVA using a form V888, and sue them for the cost of the phone and any other damage.

I second that, do make a complaint to the police. I had the police ignore me for weeks and then close my case despite the driver being 100% in the wrong, take it higher first. Write email and telephone the officers boss and if you fail to get a response go straight to the IPCC, it's a pain in the arse but in the end definitely worth it. I contemplated not bothering but now the officers in question and their sergeant have been reprimanded for failing to act and I had a meeting with an officer high up in Hampshire police who has since re opened the case which is now going to court.

Sorry to hear of your ordeal, sounds horrific.

We all feel for the OP but, again, where is the evidence? With no witnesses and no CCTV of the assault what are people expecting the police to do?

they could just round up a local youf, extract a confession from him, and we'd all feel better about it.

The guy sounds like a maniac ... But ... Are you sure you want to pursue it? Your story starts with a kick to his car. If you scratched it or even dinged it its more expensive than a phone.

Never an excuse for being a violent tool but he'd obviously counter your claim if you pushed it further.

I've an old iphone3 kicking around here you could use.

despite possible provocation, a punch in the face is assault (I believe), and should not be treated lightly, if the photo evidence can be retrieved then should it not be followed up?, what happens next time he's in a rage, definitely a complaint re police, assaults should be followed up in my opinion

We all feel for the OP but, again, where is the evidence? With no witnesses and no CCTV of the assault what are people expecting the police to do?

despite possible provocation, a punch in the face is assault (I believe), and should not be treated lightly, if the photo evidence can be retrieved then should it not be followed up?, what happens next time he's in a rage, definitely a complaint re police, assaults should be followed up in my opinion

Data recovery is possible, it is highly likely that the image is still on the phone in which case the police should be making the effort to obtain it before writing off the case duet lack of evidence. By the sounds of it there is potential evidence to be had but they're too lazy to obtain it and geo from there.

The main concern I have is that this person is clearly ok with assaulting a women, where do his limits end?

Where on the phone is there evidence of an assault? There may be a picture of a car, maybe even of the driver, after that it is his word against her's unless there is a witness or CCTV.
I'm not unsympathetic to the OP, I've been ridden in to, head on, by a car driver who chased me round several streets in order to do it but I knew that without witnesses to it there was nothing the police could do and really I wouldn't have expected them to waste time and money where there was no chance of a prosecution.

you could have caused some costly damage to that car, bodywork is really expensive to fix. i would echo wrongcog on this and consider dropping it and learn from it, you might get the bloke some sort of warning but equally find yourself with a massive bill, like >£600+. bloke cut a corner at the end of the day, just leave it there.

What ever route you choose.

Fuck that dude. There is a major difference between kicking an inanimate object and hitting a living thing.

What ever route you choose.

Fuck that dude. There is a major difference between kicking an inanimate object and hitting a living thing.