News Beat
Two jailed for machete chase and kidnap bid in Scarborough
Ben Collins and Samuel Nicholson, both 25, wore hazmat suits and dark gloves as they chased after the victim in a quiet residential street.
The would-be victim managed to outrun the pair and escape serious injury from what police called an “audacious attempt to cause significant harm”.
Watch footage of the chase here
But he wasn’t the man they had intended to attack – and they had left a trail of clues behind them that led police to their door.
Today both machete wielders are behind bars and the man who helped them has been given a community order.
Collins, of All Saints Road, Scarborough, and Nicholson, of Trafalgar Road, Scarborough, both pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon, affray and attempted kidnap. Each was jailed for 28 months.
Jacob or Jakub Jankowski, 21, of Overdale, Eastfield, pleaded guilty to encouraging and assisting in the commission of a criminal offence and was ordered to do 180 hours’ unpaid work under a 12-month community order.
Detective Constable Alfie Thomlinson, from Scarborough and Ryedale CID, said: “This was an audacious attempt to cause significant harm to the victim.
“However, their downfall wasn’t just the speed of the victim in running away, it was also luring the wrong person to the scene of their crime and leaving a trail of breadcrumb evidence which led to them soon being identified, arrested, charged and remanded into custody.
“The street they lured their wrong victim to is a relatively quiet street in Eastfield with several young families living on it, but it was the monstrous and disgusting actions of these men that changed this and brought terror and violence to the local community.
“This behaviour and actions simply will not be tolerated here in North Yorkshire and detectives will work hard to track perpetrators down and bring them to justice.”
Police said after the hearing that Nicholson had bought the white suits and gloves in the days leading up to the attack.
At around 10pm on Saturday, April 19, 2025, the victim – a local man in his 20s – was directed to an address in Eastfield.
Upon arrival, two men wearing hazmat suits, dark gloves and carrying machetes got out of a silver Ford Fiesta and moved towards the address.
The victim managed to run away, and the suspects got back into the Fiesta and drove off.
A member of the public later located the two large machete-style knives in a black bin liner and two white hazmat suits stuffed into bushes in their front garden.
Communications between Collins and Jankowski showed the collusion between the two men, and the planning it took to lure the victim to the location where he could be attacked, police said.
