Car attacked just wondering something

GangGreen3

I was driving through the local (country) village and 2 thugs threw rocks at my car. Scared me half to death as my girlfriend was in the passenger seat (side the rocks were thrown at). I have called the guards and a report is made, they said there were several calls of the same incident.

I know if the thugs are caught I'll be pressing charges to get the damage repaired to my car but is there anything I can do? I hate seeing my car damaged from thugs and knowing that the damage will stay like that because I can't afford to fix it myself.

What makes matters worse is that the village is small and I most likely know the group of thugs. Not blaming anyone but they should have been found easily enough.

Little CuChulainn

GangGreen3 wrote: »

they should have been found easily enough.

How?

Bepolite

The guards will deal with the Criminal side of things, it's possible that compensation might be ordered in a criminal trial (please correct me if I'm wrong). There is also the civil route where you can sue them directly but this is only useful if they have money.

GangGreen3

Bepolite wrote: »

The guards will deal with the Criminal side of things, it's possible that compensation might be ordered in a criminal trial (please correct me if I'm wrong). There is also the civil route where you can sue them directly but this is only useful if they have money.

Thank you very much for the information. Just to clarify the only way to get compensation is if they're caught? If they are not found I'm basically stuck with the damage to my car unless I pay myself?

MarkR

You could claim off your insurance, if you have comprehensive.

Gone West

I know it sucks, but here is the most likely outcome:
Even if they get caught, they will be treated with kid gloves because the court appointed, taxpayer funded legal representatives will tell the same old sob stories.
Not only will they get away with it if caught, but they won't be paying you or anybody else a cent.
Sometimes it feels like there is no law and order in this country.

kippy

Throwing rocks at moving cars could be classed as an attempt on your life and indeed should be classed as an attempt on you and your passengers lives.


As stated by the previous poster however it's very likely that if they are caught they'll get little more than a slap on the wrist even if they are adults.

It's completely wrong that the OP would be expected to use their own insurance, no doubt incurring a loss of no claims etc, to fix damage to the car caused by the actions of others. High time things changed in this country in favour of the victims of crime.

aujopimur

Don't hold your breath waiting for the Gardaí to do something.

GangGreen3

Thank you very much I really appreciate all of the replies.

I'm a student so can't afford to go through insurance and have my premium raised so I'll live with the damage, car was moving and the rocks damaged the pillar between the passenger window and rear passenger window, my girlfriend was in the car and if the window smashed there would have been a different outcome.

First time calling the guards proved no use they didn't want to hear about it. When i got home my parents called straight away, after a little argument of them not caring they decided to act upon it and proved to be nice and helpful. I got several phonecalls that night asking for more information and descriptions which I provided. They told me that several people reported the same incident happening to their cars.

Its a small town and they really had nowhere to hide which is why it's a shame that they weren't caught but I can't dwell on that.