Shoplifter broke back of Tesco supermarket worker in getaway

A shoplifter who broke the back of a Tesco supermarket worker before her getaway car rammed through an angry mob has been jailed for more than three years. 

Lucy Turner, 32, sent Danielle Wood rolling over the bonnet of the car, into the passenger wing mirror and onto the ground, fracturing her third vertebrae.

Footage went viral of the blue Citroen C3, which was by then being driven by a male accomplice, as it rammed its way out of Tesco in Rickmansworth just before Christmas.

The shocking video showed members of the public trying to stop the hire car, shouting: 'Stop' and 'Get out. Get out of the car.' 

But the driver sped and swerved his way out of the car park.

St Albans crown court heard Turner's accomplices, a man and a woman who are both on the run, had tried to steal £174 worth of alcohol. 

They were stopped and the Tesco store manager pushed shopping trolleys to block the car's exit.

Tesco worker Ms Wood, 26, was assisting in the road block when she saw the car, travelling at speed towards her colleague.

She shouted to him and moved onto the walk way towards parked cars, but was struck.

Ms Wood said: 'I was petrified I thought I would be wiped out. I was in agony. I knew I had broken my back. I was screaming 'My back, my back!'

She was taken to Watford General Hospital and, nearly 3 months after being hit, still wears a brace.

In a victim personal statement, Ms Wood, who has a 5-year-old son, said: 'It happened two days before Christmas. It ruined Christmas for me and my family. I was released from hospital on Boxing Day.'

She said she has not had surgery as doctors are waiting to see if the break will heal naturally. At this stage, she does not know how long she will be in the brace, which she has to wear when out of the house.