The registration number had one letter wrong from my description, hence the report coming back as a blue van and not a white one, but the police managed to piece it all together and tracked down the driver.
After going in for an interview, the driver and his passenger both came up with the story that I was swerving around in the middle of the round and then proceeded to bang on his van.
After a lot of trying, the police managed to finally speak to the witness again, who basically backed up my first statement, but couldn't remember the whole event.
The conclusion is, that there is not enough evidence or enough of a strong case to press charges for Actual Bodily Harm.
The police are now going to charge him with a specific offence - Opening a Vehicle Door with Intention to Cause Damage. The carries a fine of £30, and a permanent record.
If he ends up disputing this he will have to go to court, which in the end will be more expensive for him, and carries the risk of the judge passing a driving disqualification and compensation costs, so I'm doubting this will happen.
As for damage to me and by bike, all my minor injuries healed very quick, and the bike damage and helmet totals around £100. So if I wish to claim after the charge, I will have to go through the Small Claims Court.
All in all I have realised these things come down to one thing - how many witnesses you have to back up your case (unless there is CCTV, which seems impossible rare).
I'm glad that he was at least caught and will now have a constant reminder of the potential costs of his actions, and I guess if he does it again, his record will not let him off as lightly.
Thanks to everyone for the advice, I seriously would have not achieved this without people's input and the accident thread.
UPDATE:
The registration number had one letter wrong from my description, hence the report coming back as a blue van and not a white one, but the police managed to piece it all together and tracked down the driver.
After going in for an interview, the driver and his passenger both came up with the story that I was swerving around in the middle of the round and then proceeded to bang on his van.
After a lot of trying, the police managed to finally speak to the witness again, who basically backed up my first statement, but couldn't remember the whole event.
The conclusion is, that there is not enough evidence or enough of a strong case to press charges for Actual Bodily Harm.
The police are now going to charge him with a specific offence - Opening a Vehicle Door with Intention to Cause Damage. The carries a fine of £30, and a permanent record.
If he ends up disputing this he will have to go to court, which in the end will be more expensive for him, and carries the risk of the judge passing a driving disqualification and compensation costs, so I'm doubting this will happen.
As for damage to me and by bike, all my minor injuries healed very quick, and the bike damage and helmet totals around £100. So if I wish to claim after the charge, I will have to go through the Small Claims Court.
All in all I have realised these things come down to one thing - how many witnesses you have to back up your case (unless there is CCTV, which seems impossible rare).
I'm glad that he was at least caught and will now have a constant reminder of the potential costs of his actions, and I guess if he does it again, his record will not let him off as lightly.
Thanks to everyone for the advice, I seriously would have not achieved this without people's input and the accident thread.