The only new thing I learned is that there is a camera owned by the landlord that is covering the entire stairwell of which the centre of shot is precisely where the bike is locked. Presuming they play ball this will be pretty damning evidence against the security guard and I really doubt the club will be foolish enough to think otherwise. Having actually been able to look in person it appears the guy attempted to twist the bike free and then took out his frustrations on the bike when this was unsuccessful. Obviously this is not a sensible way to remove a locked bike- it's pretty clear that he made a decision that was way beyond his pay grade, and that once he started causing damage to property he should have stopped.
Having had a look at the door it's a really funny situation but I can see how it makes sense- the access from the door does lead down the stairs where there is an actual fire door that opens onto a service yard and doesn't actually cross any further property, looks like a dodgy HMO compromise. Turns out the managing company of the building is a "known" entity for doing things perhaps less than above board. For the record, the actual, legitimate, marked fire door downstairs which is presumably part of the club's fire escape policy is actually behind a whole stack of bikes and assorted junk, and is pretty much inaccessible, which makes the whole matter even more ridiculous.
Also for those making stupid comments about "knowing legal stuff"- though IANAL my family are in law so I know a fair bit and have plenty of legal resources / access to legal advice already.
Having looked at the situation I agree it will probably become a police matter. The current plan is to approach the club and inform them of the issues, state that it's believed to be criminal damage, and ask if they'd be willing to resolve amicably by means of compensation, and that if not that the matter will be passed to the police and an N1 claim filed with the County Court.
As far as this forum is concerned the matter is probably closed here, I was hoping for information on similar incidents and repairs to bikes in this situation but it seems to have basically turned into a free-for-all justice war about bikes in corridors.
Right, just to clear all this up: I picked up the bike this evening. We agreed that leaving it where it was was a bad idea to limit future provocation. It's in a pretty bad state. Back wheel is utterly wrecked as anticipated, dérailleur is smashed to hell, frame is bent. At first inspection I thought it would possibly be a simple cold-set and dropout alignment job but I've found a crease below the brake bridge I don't like. There are also a fair few deep gouges and scratches where the whole bike's been chucked around. Going to get the second opinion of a professional frame-builder this week but I'm pretty sure the whole thing's had it.
The only new thing I learned is that there is a camera owned by the landlord that is covering the entire stairwell of which the centre of shot is precisely where the bike is locked. Presuming they play ball this will be pretty damning evidence against the security guard and I really doubt the club will be foolish enough to think otherwise. Having actually been able to look in person it appears the guy attempted to twist the bike free and then took out his frustrations on the bike when this was unsuccessful. Obviously this is not a sensible way to remove a locked bike- it's pretty clear that he made a decision that was way beyond his pay grade, and that once he started causing damage to property he should have stopped.
Having had a look at the door it's a really funny situation but I can see how it makes sense- the access from the door does lead down the stairs where there is an actual fire door that opens onto a service yard and doesn't actually cross any further property, looks like a dodgy HMO compromise. Turns out the managing company of the building is a "known" entity for doing things perhaps less than above board. For the record, the actual, legitimate, marked fire door downstairs which is presumably part of the club's fire escape policy is actually behind a whole stack of bikes and assorted junk, and is pretty much inaccessible, which makes the whole matter even more ridiculous.
Also for those making stupid comments about "knowing legal stuff"- though IANAL my family are in law so I know a fair bit and have plenty of legal resources / access to legal advice already.
Having looked at the situation I agree it will probably become a police matter. The current plan is to approach the club and inform them of the issues, state that it's believed to be criminal damage, and ask if they'd be willing to resolve amicably by means of compensation, and that if not that the matter will be passed to the police and an N1 claim filed with the County Court.
As far as this forum is concerned the matter is probably closed here, I was hoping for information on similar incidents and repairs to bikes in this situation but it seems to have basically turned into a free-for-all justice war about bikes in corridors.