Crushed guard was about to quit

This is the first picture of the security guard crushed by a barrier while trying to catch shoplifters.

Freddie Agyekum, 33, was left in a critical condition after giving chase to a couple speeding out of the car park of a B&Q store in Chiswick.

Today his wife Benita, 28, said the incident was the culmination of a year-long series of crimes which had pushed her husband to the point of resignation.

Mr Agyekum had been working at B&Q to pay off student debts since gaining a master's degree in information systems last year. He was weeks away from quitting, she said.

He was crushed against a metal post after the couple's Volvo estate rammed the car park barrier as Mr Agyekum attempted to shut it.

Mrs Agyekum said: "He came up against petty crime every day and it depressed him. I always feared he would suffer something like this. When he is defending something or someone he will react without thinking of his own safety. He is a bit too brave for my liking."

Mrs Agyekum, a Revenue and Customs prosecution assistant, said: " Freddie got his master's last year, but when he finished his degree he needed money so he took what he could get."

Mr Agyekum was threatened with an iron bar by the male shoplifter before he chased the pair. He managed to close one barrier before he was crushed by the second. Mrs Agyekum has been at her husband's bedside since he was admitted to Charing Cross Hospital's intensive care ward on Saturday.

The two suspects are white and in their mid-thirties. The woman had a blonde ponytail.

Anyone with information should phone police on 020 8247 6329 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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