Rear Screen Smashed

[fastrack1966]

Last week when I was parking in reverse my rear screen smashed. I suspect the vandal that stood on the pavement did it. The law took him away for criminal damage but will go no further without a witness since he claims I reversed into him.
I have a letter from Pilkington saying it is highly unlikely anything but a strong deliberate blow would cause this damage - what I am after is the names of any other car-glass manufacturers please. Can anyone name a few? Is it Pilkington that made my glass? It's a '93 Maestro TD.
There was a silver lining. Sometimes I have spent an hour on the phone trying to get used spares - I got a nice red tailgate to match my old one and its even in better nick too..........

BrianJ

[E_T_V]

Pilkington made the original glass for your Maestro TD so pass the letter on to the police and demand that he is charged with criminal damage.

Can't say I know of any other car glass makers but a look round as some car windscreens should reveal all (as they have the makers logo in the bottom corner usually)

[e692wtt]

My best mate's kid brother smashed the rear window on a brand new golf once - he ran (that is, running on his feet, not in another vehicle) into it when he was chasing it 'flat out' and the chavs inside it jammed their brakes on (my mate's kid brother has a rather short fuse, and suffice to say I no longer go drinking with him).

The point is, it took a lot of doing to break the glass.

So, you ran into this poor innocent chap at the side of the road while reversing. I am guessing there is damage to the metalwork, and he was thrown some distance and ended up on the floor with cuts and bruises? No, thought not... it's criminal damage. (Please don't get me going on 'modern justice' though, and the fact he may well walk free.)

Good you can find a silver lining in all this though :thumbup: , good on you. And let us know how this progresses.

[Simon]

Some glass manufacturers off the top of my head:
Triplex; Saint Gobain; Secursiv, Splintex; PPG; Lamiglas; HW Automotive...

[carnumber19]

alternatively, you can use civil action through a county court, it used to cost £60 to start the process with claims against costs of damage only possible. Get some free advice from a duty solicitor and see if this is worth pursuing. You will of course need the gits name and address.

good luck

suggest picking up an old Maestro and using the screen from that.

Phil


Pilkington made the original glass for your Maestro TD so pass the letter on to the police and demand that he is charged with criminal damage.

Can't say I know of any other car glass makers but a look round as some car windscreens should reveal all (as they have the makers logo in the bottom corner usually)

[fastrack1966]

Thanks everyone. In case anyonr else is unlucky enough to need these details:
Saint Gobain are in Tamworth
Splintex are in Rugby
Piper Toughened Glas are in Watford

Pilkington's letter was helpful and I'll try for one or two more to try and add weight to my pressng the Police to do something. I'm more than keen to do a Small Claim but the Police won't tell me who he is of course. Maybe if I threaten to do my own private summons in the Mags Court they might just change their minds - nothing so embarrassing than the public having to do their own summonses!
I did a post on getting the guy's ID in uk.legal and drew a complete blank

BrianJ

[e692wtt]

Sone police forces will hand out the alleged offender's details, and some won't.

Suggest a letter to the Chief Constable, or the force's Data Protection Officer, requesting the other party's details, in the first instance.

[fastrack1966]

Thanks Rich, still waiting for a couple more screen makers to say his allegation is non-credible. The daft thing is that once we're before a magistrate the numbers of witnesses is irrelevant, it is a question of who they believe.
Many years ago I did a private summons against my then landlord for thumping me. He had three witnesses, I had one, not only did we win but the landlord and his crew was accused of perjury.
So far as a cautious Police Force goes I'm in the worst town at the moment. What if the nation's most famous schoolmaster Sion Jenkins gets aquitted next week? Sussex Police won't touch a fragile case with a long barge pole

BrianJ

[e692wtt]

Sion Jenkins? I happen to believe he was set up, and Sussex Police don't enjoy a good reputation - that's clear from Private Eye. And they'll keep on doing it too, just like West Yorks Police did with Stefan Kiszko, Judith Ward and Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper) where 2 of these 3 people were wrongly convicted then released many years later...

Strikes me that the Feds have got more 'proper' (non-manufactured) evidence for your case than they did for Sion Jenkins :o .

[fastrack1966]

What I dont think I mentioned was that this guy who claimed I reversed into him actually had a one inch cut in his hand:
1) My rearscreen was in bits - does he have hands of leather?
2) He probably had more blood on him than Jenkins did

BrianJ

[fastrack1966]

Re: Advice from screen makers on my demise, , St Gobain and Triplex have completely ignored me, I still have a convincing reply from Pilkington though.
The Transport & Road Research Lab and the Motor Industry Research Assoc wrote but refused to give an opinion.

Smashed

[e692wtt]

That's a shame, that they're not being more helpful.

As an aside, I see Sion Jenkings now faces a third trial :rolleyes: .