Advice needed on this unpleasant situation

Chronology of events
The facts as they have unfolded
1st incident
I was on the way to Andorra, while still on the M4 Paul James (PJ) drunk as usual spat beer on the back of my head & neck. I reacted by threatening to punch him, I calmed down quickly & let the matter drop.
2nd incident
PJ spat beer directly in my face a short while later. I didn't react much to this.
While being permanently drunk on holidays he didn't bother me again.
He borrowed 50 Euros off me, he mentioned that he hadn't forgotten about it a few days later but never paid me back.

3rd incident
While on a night out (I'd been out 1hr so was sober) PJ while kneeling on the front passenger side of the mini bus facing backwards, he threw with an over arm action a beer bottle (I assume it was full but I can't be sure) I was sitting in the third row & it hit me directly on my front tooth & top lip. Immediately I was doubled up on the seat in agony.
I didn't react violently but I was really annoyed & in some pain for the rest of the evening.
When we left the bus he apologised & I asked him for the £50 he owed me. I had to ask him a further 4 times throughout the evening before he eventually gave it to me.

The next morning while cleaning my teeth a large sliver came away from the side of the tooth from just above the gum line to the crown. Later that day a large chunk came away & the same evening my filling came away on the same side top 4 teeth back.
My upper jaw, lip, teeth & gums were causing me pain for the next few days.

My regular dentist Ian Davies was away on holidays so I had to see Craig Davies instead on the following Monday, he gave me a temporary filling.
When Ian returned three weeks later I went to see him. I have been seeing Ian for 30 years. I know him well through his capacity as a dentist & trust his judgement. He explained that he was unable to treat my tooth to the level of care it needed & he referred me to Guy's clinic in Cardiff. Ian suggested he replace the filling at the same time.
I attended Guys clinic & paid a £65 consultation fee.

Guy gave me a price of £1,660 to complete the work to bring my teeth up to condition they were in before incident 3.

I gave PJ this information when I next saw him, he told me he'd give me a ring in the week for a chat about it all.
4th incident
Later that night he spat beer directly into my face, it took all my will power not to punch him & I went home early to avoid an incident.

PJ never rang me. I rang PJ on several occasions in the weeks leading up to my treatment.

On the 5th June I received the first stage of treatment to my tooth. This consisted of a temporary bridge & a replacement filling. I had to pay £1,060.

I was in extreme pain for the rest of the day & night as soon as the anaesthetic wore off, so much so that I was going to visit the dentist again the very next day. By the morning the pain had dropped to a dull ache. I decided to wait to see if it would stop on its own. Now almost 3 weeks later I am still in pain but it is tolerable as long as I take pain killers before I go to bed & I will be seeing the dentist again on the 21st June.

I have been relentlessly ringing PJ & texting him but he never comes back to me.
on 30th May 2012 PJ text me to say he'd ring me the following day after I had asked him for a cheque. but guess what? He did not call.

On 3rd of June after 1.30am he text me to say sorry he hadn't rang as he's away, he'll ring me Wednesday, but again no call from PJ.

On the 9th June I again asked him for a cheque & I called around the market which he owns for the 3rd time looking for him, I asked a few people to tell PJ I was looking for him.
On Monday 11th of June he rang me. He basically told me his M8 was a dentist & would have done the work for me at the cost of a pint of beer. I asked PJ did he use this dentist himself & he said no.

I don't know this dentist & feel and felt a bit unhappy about using him, but I told PJ to ring my dentist & sort it out between them & I'd be happy to go along with what was decided.
I explained to Paul that my next appointment was the 21st of June & that he had until this date to arrange something.

He said he'd ring me the following day but still no return call.
I was away on business from the 11th till the 15th of June so had no contact with PJ, however I had my phone on & did not miss any calls.

On the 16th June I rang him 3 times & had no return call despite leaving a message to his voicemail.
on the 17th June my brother had spoken to PJ's friend Mark Jenkins. (MJ)
MJ had been told a completely different story to the truth. I was made to look like I was profiteering & made to look like a bad person, all our mutual friends now think I have not consulted with him & gone & had all my teeth done like Simon Cowell. Apparently I had bad teeth before but now I have a Hollywood smile.

This is a complete fabrication. The dentist has worked on 1 bridge at a cost of £1,600 & 1 filling at a cost of £60. It could be argued that the loss of a filling is a coincidence but that in my opinion is ridiculous after such a violent trauma to my gum on this same side.
My teeth were nice before & are still nice now. All of my teeth are still there with the exception of one other bridge in the back & a couple of fillings.

I am out of pocket by £1,725. I have had to travel to Cardiff 3 times at 48 miles each way some 288 miles in total, on top of this I have had to travel 1hr each way & spend 5 hrs total in the dentist chair in Cardiff. Not to mention my local dentist.
I have had to attend 3 family events inc. my daughters christening with family pictures taken with a front tooth missing, having to explain to everyone that a so called friend threw a beer bottle into my face.
I have had to walk around for 2 months looking like a hooligan whistling while I spoke with a lisp, until the temporary bridge was fitted.
I have had to endure 3 months of intermittent severe & mild pain. Unable to eat anything like an apple that requires a front bite & I've been unable to drink anything hot or cold.

As a friend I was willing to ignore all this as long as PJ paid for the dental care that he had shallowly promised to pay.

To is now clear that this was not a gentleman's agreement but a hollow promise of no substance.

I met this guy 2 years ago while snowboarding, he's always drunk & a nuisance, the trouble is if I pursue this I'll look a bad egg with the boys even though he broke my front tooth, if I let it go, what is he going to do next? He owns loads of properties & has loads of money, he's just super tight, what should I do?

 

first of all ... I wouldn't call him a friend

you cannot force him to pay as there was never any real agreement about it

 

Do your other friends find his behaviour funny? If they do, maybe you should re-evaluate who you hang around with.

I can't see how you can force him to pay, you could go to the police if others are willing to be witnesses to the bottle throwing incident. Otherwise, revenge is a dish best served cold.

 

You should've flattened him after the first incident then none of this would've happened, then as others have said change yours mates

 

you can take him to court to claim damages, assuming there were witnesses etc, effectively suing him for your losses due to his stupididty, if he had done £1600 worth of damage to your car or home you would persue him for it and kick him in the nuts after, i think the bottle thing is ABH

 

does he spit beer in anyone else’s face cos tbh i think he’s mugging you off

 

come camping with us lot mate we don’t waste ale like that

 

There are three ways..

1. forget it happened, and forget your mate.
2. Sue him for injuries, I assume there were witnessess and previous dental records.
or
3. Break his legs!

 

sorry dont no the guy but mate! you should have should just punched the guy if you new him give wot you receive >
you say 1600 for the work and 60 for a filling! ???
anyway :-X
dont think latebay is the site for this, were all well too chilled out for that !@*#. left it all back at school!
regards and good luck

 

Keep on the case! keep calling him and don't give up!

 

change your mate dude !
ive been thier done that but all my old mates where skint so anythink went

 

im a can be a bit of a knob when drunk but! that was out of order
i would forget it and forget him