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Machete Attack Foiled by Mistaken Identity
26 Nov, 2025
Summary
- Two men jailed for 28 months each for attempted attack.
- Victim lured to address was not the intended target.
- Attackers wore hazmat suits and wielded machetes.
In Eastfield, near Scarborough, two men, Ben Collins and Samuel Nicholson, both 25, have been imprisoned for 28 months. They admitted to possessing an offensive weapon, affray, and attempted kidnap after luring a man in his 20s to an address on April 19th, intending to attack him with machetes while clad in hazmat suits. Fortunately, the intended victim escaped unharmed.
Further investigation uncovered that the victim was not the intended target, a result of mistaken identity. Collins and a third man, Jacob Jankowski, 21, had collaborated to lure the wrong person to the scene. Nicholson had purchased the distinctive white hazmat suits and gloves prior to the incident.
The abandoned evidence, including the hazmat suits and machete-style knives, found stuffed in bushes, led to the swift identification and arrest of the culprits. Detective Constable Alfie Thomlinson highlighted the audacity of the crime and how the attackers' own mistakes, including targeting the wrong individual and leaving a trail of evidence, led to their downfall, bringing terror to a quiet local community.
