CCTV shows cashier hit by car driven at her by thief

A cashier hit by a car when a driver stole £120 worth of fuel has told the BBC she will not be deterred from challenging thieves.

CCTV of the attack on Michelle Carr, a cashier at Intake Development’s Park Road Garage, Barnsley, has been viewed more than 65,000 times after it was posted on Facebook.

It shows a man leaping into his car as Michelle approaches and driving straight at her. She was thrown onto the bonnet and suffered bruising to her back, shoulder and leg.

The incident happened after another assistant noticed that the driver had taken a lot more fuel than the car’s capacity and Michelle went out to ask him what he was doing, and check that it was safe.

She told the BBC: “It happened so quick. It’s the last thing I thought he’d do. I actually thought he’d probably reverse or go round me but definitely not straight through me.

“I was really, really lucky. I went straight over the bonnet and fell on my right side so it’s just my back and top of my shoulder and right leg bruised. I could’ve gone straight under the car.”

She said she had always been the type of person who confronted shoplifters and would continue to do so.

She added: “I’m the one that always tackles shoplifters, go straight for them and won’t let them get out of the shop without tackling them first. That’s me. Think I’ll probably still tackle them. But I wouldn’t want to stop a car.”

Robert Campbell, director of Intake Developments, said he had spoken to Michelle, who was very shaken, to wish her well. He added: “She is not a direct employee, as we own the site and she is employed by the station manager Debi Beardshall, but she is part of the team.

“I was absolutely horrified by this brutal crime. He could have reversed or driven round her but he drove straight at her and appeared intent on inflicting as much harm as possible.”

He said the incident also emphasised how important high quality CCTV is. The company had invested in the latest digital technology to protect staff and assist the police, and this meant crisp clear pictures could be put up on social media very quickly to identify the attacker.

The attack occurred at around 1pm on Sunday December 4. South Yorkshire Police said it was investigating and two people had been detained for questioning.