This is the dramatic moment a B&M Bargains security guard nearly died when he was stabbed while trying to catch a shoplifter who had stolen just £20 worth of goods.
Andrzej Mikulski stabbed the worker, known only as Jeff, in the thigh with a kitchen knife outside the discount store in Preston, Lancashire, exactly a year ago today.
CCTV shows how Jeff, in his 40s, followed 27-year-old Mikulski out of the shop on Carlisle Street after he walked past staff holding a basket of goods without paying.
The footage, revealed in new Channel 5 documentary 'Police Interceptors: Taking Down the Shoplifting Gangs', shows Mikulski being chased by Jeff then stabbing him.
Mikulski then runs off as staff call police on 999, with one employee sounding panicked as she tells the operator: 'Our security guard's just been stabbed in the leg.'
Asked whether it is 'heavy bleeding', she replies: 'Yeah it is. Quick. He's been stabbed.' The operator says: 'OK, we're getting an ambulance over to you as well.'
The operator asks whether the worker can stop the bleeding, and she replies: 'I've just got some towels off the shop floor. We're just putting some pressure on it now.'
Three medically trained police officers race to the scene following the call, providing life-saving first aid treatment including using tourniquets to stem the bleeding.
Andrzej Mikulski walks out of a B&M Bargains store in Preston, Lancashire, without paying
A staff member (right) points where Mikulski went, as security guard Jeff (left) goes after him
Jeff (right) is seen running after Mikulski (left) after the thief runs off with £20 of stolen goods
Mikulski (left) stabs Jeff (right) behind a bush - and the guard is seen collapsing to the floor
One officer says: 'They've tourniqueted twice and direct pressure but he's still bleeding badly. He's in a bad way.'
Another adds: 'You don't put a tourniquet on unless it's arterial and if it's arterial, you've got minutes to stop the bleeding, or someone's going to bleed out.'
Jeff is airlifted to Royal Preston Hospital for emergency surgery, with two consultant vascular surgeons operating on him finding that the knife came close to passing completely through his thigh.
Around 45 minutes after the stabbing, the documentary shows firearms officers stopping Mikulski and arresting him on Edward Street while patrolling Preston city centre.
The attacker has blood stains on his hands and jacket sleeve and is carrying a backpack, while a kitchen knife with a 19cm x 3cm pointed blade is also found on him.
Mikulski's clothing and description match that given by several witnesses at B&M Bargains – and it is later discovered that the stabbing was the culmination of a spree of offending by Mikulski in Preston on February 26 and 26 last year.
These crimes included stealing a rucksack containing a laptop from the Preston Market offices on Earl Street after pulling out a knife, theft from shops and theft of a bicycle.
Medically trained police rush to the scene as they attempt to stop security guard Jeff bleeding
Jeff is surrounded by officers who provide life-saving first aid including using tourniquets
Firearms officers later stop Mikulski and arrest him on Edward Street while patrolling in Preston
Mikulski was later jailed for 22 years and 6 months at a sentencing hearing in October last year
Jeff has an emotional reunion months later with the Lancashire Police team who saved his life
Jeff thanks police after he survived following emergency surgery at Royal Preston Hospital
Mikulski, of no fixed address, was found guilty by a jury at Preston Crown Court in August last year of Section 18 wounding with intent.
Prior to the trial, he pleaded guilty to robbery, attempted robbery, three offences of possessing a knife or bladed article in a public place and four offences of theft.
At a sentencing hearing in October, Mikulski was jailed for 22 years and 6 months for wounding with intent, with concurrent terms for the other offences.
He must serve 17 years of that term before being eligible for parole.
Mikulski was not in court to hear his sentence, having refused to appear in the dock. He had been remanded in custody since being arrested in February.
Lancashire Police Detective Constable Alex Akers, of Preston CID, said after the sentencing: 'Andrzej Mikulski was prepared to use a knife to stab a man and inflict an horrendous injury on a security guard, all for the sake of escaping with a basket of goods which he had stolen from B&M Bargains.
'Had it not been for the actions of the police officers and paramedics at the scene, and then the skill of the surgeons, an innocent man might well have lost his life.'
'Police Interceptors: Taking Down the Shoplifting Gangs' is on Channel 5
