A 32-year-old woman was the getaway driver in a botched theft which ended up changing a 26-year-old’s life after she suffered a fractured vertebrae.

Lucy Turner, of Haggerston Road, Borehamwood, was sentenced today to 38 months in prison following the hit-and-run incident in Rickmansworth just before Christmas.

Turner and two accomplices had already robbed £600 worth of alcohol from a Tesco in Pinner on the morning of December 23 when they arrived at the Tesco Superstore in Harefield Road in the early afternoon.

A man and a woman, who remain on the run, tried stealing £174 of alcohol from the store but were caught out by security after they unsuccessfully tried to flee the store through an emergency exit.

They got into their hired blue Citroen C3 which Turner was driving before she began flying the wrong way round the car park at a speed of around 35-40mph.

A witness said she could hear the sound of loud revving and saw the Citroen coming towards her. She thought “I’m going to be hit or at least my car is”.

Danielle Wood, a mother of a five-year-old son, had come out to help her Tesco manager who was trying to stop the suspects getting away. She was in a pedestrianised area near a row of cars when the Citroen C3 went hurtling towards her.

Ms Wood was struck by the wing mirror violently, and rolled over the side of the car two or three times before landing heavily, first on her bottom and then her back.

The witness said she had heard a loud noise and realised someone had been hit.

Ms Wood was rushed to Watford General Hospital where she stayed over Christmas. In court today, wearing a support brace, she explained the consequences of the incident including the effects it has had on her relationship with her family and friends.

Following the collision with Ms Wood, Turner, who was under the influence of cocaine and heroin at the time, continued driving, smashing into a Toyota which had the driver and their child inside.

It was at this stage that Turner says she refused to ram anymore vehicles out of the way and swapped seats with her male accomplice.

The Toyota is rammed out of the way and it is then a video of the getaway emerged on social media.

Footage shows shoppers ramming trolleys and hitting the blue car in an attempt to stop them getting away but eventually the trio fled.

Turner was arrested in February and police say by the end of the interview she admitted guilt and showed remorse.

Watford Observer:

Lucy Turner. Photo: Herts Police

She was charged with attempted theft (from Tesco in Rickmansworth), causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving whilst disqualified, being the driver of a vehicle that failed to stop after a collision, failing to report the collision, and charged in connection with two separate incidents: a theft from Tesco in Pinner on December 23 and a theft from the Co-op in Borehamwood on December 24.

The defence, Chantelle Stocks, said Turner, who handed her sons into social services last March, had been out of trouble since 2014 after a string of convictions - mainly between 2008 and 2011 including shoplifting, common assault, and dangerous driving.

The court heard that she was a drug user, which her defence linked to the death of her four-month-old son in 2008, and had met her two accomplices at a crack house just five days before the hit-and-run.

Judge C Wigin said: “At the time of offending, you were under influence of drugs. You have a long standing addiction to cocaine and heroin. First of all, you were under the influence of cocaine and heroin and secondly this was a sustained piece of driving. It became clear people became alarmed by your progress. Most importantly this was offending in furtherance of crime.

“This was your second attempt of the day and this is a significant aggravating feature.

“I have heard today from Ms Wood. This has caused great distress to her, her son, and her partner.”

Turner was given a 38 month sentence. The maximum sentence for the relatively new charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving is five years; however Turner was entitled to 1/3 off due to a guilty plea and a further two months – one for mitigation and one because she had already been on remand for 31 days.

She will serve half of her sentence in prison while the rest will be served on licence.

She was also disqualified from driving for a total of 54 months.

CPS Senior District Crown Prosecutor Peter Burt said: “Lucy Turner saw that the car park was full of people doing their Christmas shopping, and yet she drove extremely dangerously with a clear disregard for the safety of others.

“As a result, an innocent person who was among those trying to stop her getting away suffered serious injuries; injuries from which she has still not recovered.”