A man who pushed a father to his death from a speeding van has been jailed.

Prasanna ‘Nick’ Arulchelvam, 34, died after trying to stop thieves from stealing goods he had bought from Costco, in Hartspring Lane, Bushey, in 2013.

Michael McInerney, from Borehamwood, was today sentenced to 11 years - 10 and a half years for manslaughter, two years concurrent for conspiracy to steal, with six months consecutive from a previous suspended sentence.

The 34-year-old, who was living in Radwell, appeared via a video link from Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes.

Shopkeeper Mr Arulchelvam sustained a fractured skull after he was forced out of the moving van. He died 11 days later in St Mary's Hospital, London.

In sentencing McInerney, Judge Michael Kay QC said: "Mr Prasanna was a hardworking 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."

Cousins Patrick and James O'Driscoll were handed ten-and-a-half years and seven-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Prasanna in October.

Patrick O'Driscoll's sentence was increased to 12 years on appeal.

Luton Crown Court heard today how Mr Prasanna, who came to the UK from Sri Lanka in 1998, leapt into the Peugeot getaway van on May 26, 2013, after spotting thieves breaking into his van.

Prosecutor John Price QC said told the court: “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. Patrick O'Driscoll was the driver.

“Michael McInerney was in the rear of the vehicle. 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, as Michael McInerney shouted ‘move it" as they sped off.

Nothing had been taken from Mr Prasanna's van. The third defendant James O'Driscoll was in another vehicle at the scene.

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.

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 Watford.

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 later 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, in which a man who tried to stop him fell into the road.

McInerney went on the run after he was arrested in December 2013 and bailed. A European Arrest Warrant was issued and a reward put up by police before he was arrested in Corby in December 2014.

Defence barrister Henry Hughes said the father-of-three accepts responsibility for the death of a man who deserved no harm at all.

He said: “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.”

Mr Prasanna worked for Tesco before he opened his own Londis shop in Basingstoke, Hampshire, with his younger brother Uday.

They opened another shop in Sittingbourne, Kent, and were looking at starting a third in Southampton.

Four years ago he married Shayanthy, 30, and the couple lived in Grandfield Avenue, Watford with their young son.

Mrs Prasanna said after the O’Driscolls were jailed: "It seems unfair the men that did this to my husband will still have a future with their own families when they get out of prison.

"Justice will not heal our wounds, nor can it help."