I was young, and didn't think about other people so much. And really mate, there was nothing to crash into on that bit, it would have been almost impossible to hit something. Was just a gentle 2nd gear slide really but long.
I might add, if you had a cossie (not sure if it was standard under bonnet, certainly not outside) would you leave it to a crappy normal ford garage if you couldn't do it yourself or a specialist.. Not trying to justify my actions here just pointing out the guy was a muppet IMO