text: Tragedy: Prasanna ‘Nick’ Arulchelvam died when he fell from a van while chasing a gang of thieves . A courageous shopkeeper was killed when he made a desperate attempt to stop a gang of thieves who had broken into his van in a cash and carry car park. Prasanna ‘Nick’ Arulchelvam ran and jumped through an open side door of their van, but was pushed out and hit the ground as the vehicle sped away. A customer in the Costco car park in Watford where the incident happened reported hearing a ‘nasty crunch’ as the 34-year-old’s head hit the ground. Today, the man who pushed Mr Prasanna to his death was jailed for 11 years after admitting all he wanted was ‘a few cheap packets of cigarettes’. Mr Prasanna had just finished his purchases when he returned to his silver Transit van and loaded a large box containing 21 smaller boxes of cigarettes in his van. He took his trolley back to a bay and returned to see that the stock he had bought had been disturbed, Luton Crown Court heard. Mr Prasanna then gave chase as he saw a separate van speeding off. Prosecutor John Price QC said: ‘Mr Prasanna courageously acted in an attempt to stop the driver getting away. ‘With equal determination and with an utterly callous regard for his safety, the two men used violence that cost this man his life. ‘Mr Prasanna was forced out but managed to hold onto the side of the vehicle before the door was shut and he fell to the ground.’ A witness said it was as if he had been pushed or kicked away from the van. Nothing had been taken from Mr Prasanna’s van. Last October cousins Patrick and James O’Driscoll were handed jail terms of ten-and-a-half years and seven-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Prasanna. The sentence of Patrick O’Driscoll, who was driving the van, was later increased to 12 years on appeal. His cousin was in another vehicle at the scene while a third man, Michael McInerney, 34, was in the rear of the van Mr Prasanna chased. McInerney went on the run after he was arrested in December 2013 and bailed. A European Arrest Warrant was issued but he was arrested in Corby, Northamptonshire in December 2014. Today he was jailed for a total of 11 years - ten-and-a-half years for manslaughter, two years concurrent for conspiracy to steal, with six months consecutive from the suspended sentence. Defence barrister Henry Hughes said the father of three accepts responsibility for the death of a man who deserved no harm at all. Jailed: Michael McInerney was handed an 11 year sentence after admitting to pushing Mr Prasanna . ‘He will live with the horror of the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. He wanted no more than a few cheap packets of cigarettes,’ he said. Judge Michael Kay QC told McInerney: ‘Mr Prasanna was a hard working man and a family man with a wife and two-and-a-half-year-old son. He is described as a devoted and very loving father and husband. ‘I can’t help but compare Mr Prasanna who was a hard-working and lawful citizen with you. What example are you setting to your three children? “ . ‘You applied violence to get Mr Prasanna off the vehicle. You pushed him out of the vehicle which began the chain of events that led to his death.’ McInerney, from Borehamwood, Hertforshire, who was living at the time in Radwell, Bedforshire, appeared via a video link from Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes. At an earlier hearing he pleaded not guilty to murder and not guilty to conspiracy to rob. His pleas of guilty to alternative charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to steal were accepted by the prosecution. He had 17 convictions for 32 offences and operated with alias names and false dates of birth. At the time Mr Prasanna was attacked, McInerney was serving a seven month suspended sentence suspended for 15 months for a similar theft from a motor vehicle at a cash and carry in Sheerness, in which a man who tried to stop him fell into the road. The day before Mr Prasanna was killed, the two O’Driscolls had carried out thefts and attempted thefts at Booker cash and carry stores in Dagenham, Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich. On the Sunday they drove to Radwell and collected McInerney. The Costco in Watford where three men - cousins Patrick and James O’Driscoll and Michael McInerney - tried to grab cigarettes from Mr Prasanna's van before speeding off in separate vehicles. All have now been jailed . In two vans they went to three sites, where they stole or attempted to steal from customers at Bookers in Bedford and Luton and at PC World at the Staples Retail Park in Hendon, before going to Costco in Watford. Mr Prasanna died on June 6 2013 in St Mary’s Hospital in London, 11 days after the attack on him. He came to England from Sri Lanka in 1998 and worked for Tesco as a manager. Mr Prasanna later opened his own shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, with his younger brother Uday. They opened another store in Sittingbourne, Kent, and were looking at starting a third Southampton. Four years ago he married Shayanthy, 30, and the couple lived in Grandfield Avenue, Watford with their young son.
target: Prasanna Arulchelvam leapt into van as it sped away but was pushed out .
  His head hit the ground with a 'nasty crunch' and he died 11 days later .
  A gang tried to steal cigarettes from the victim's van before he gave chase .
  All three have now been jailed, including the man who pushed Mr Prasanna .