Video shows man being slashed in head with machete as he tries to stop thieves

This video shows the moment a man was slashed with a machete as he tried to stop thieves targeting his mother’s van.

He had run out along with his mum and dad when they saw two thieves breaking into the van which was parked outside the family home in Darnall, Sheffield, on May 16 at around 5.35am.

His mother, who asked for her and her son not to be named, told how she was punched in the face by one of the men and slashed in the hand by the other as she tried to stop the thieves, who turned up in a silver Nissan van, which had cloned plates and is believed to have been stolen.

This video, taken by a neighbour, shows how her son then tried to pull one of the thieves out from the passenger side and was struck across the head with a machete, leaving him with a bloody wound which required eight stitches.

She told how her son was also cut on his hand, which required one stitch, and he was lucky not to have been more seriously injured in the attack.

“The knife was absolutely massive and if he’d been hit six inches lower it could have been so much worse. He could be seriously ill in hospital or dead,” she said.

“He’s still a bit shaken up. He’s hardly slept, just thinking about what happened, and he’s in a bit of pain. He keeps going over it, thinking what could have happened.”

The victim believes it was a targeted raid as the thieves went straight for her van and removed the contents, which she was able to drag out again before they drove off with one of the back doors still open.

She said they headed off along Prince of Wales Road in the direction of Valley Centertainment.

She told how both men appeared to be in their early to mid-20s and the man with the machete is black and was wearing a mask, while the man who punched her is white, has blue eyes and a thin ‘weaselly’ face.

She said the Nissan van used by the thieves was later found by police on the other side of Darnall.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting crime reference number 14/90556/22.