Three Peterborough men who launched 'terrifying and traumatic' machete attack jailed

The attack was launched by Apolinario Da Silva Pereira, Cirilo De Sousa Ximenes and Zito Araujo in Peterborough on 18 December 2017.

The victim was in a car travelling on Dogsthorpe Road with two other people when he saw Araujo, 39 of Gladstone Street, Peterborough, standing by his own car.

He stopped to speak to him at about 10.45pm but Araujo became aggressive.

Araujo got a machete from the boot of his car but was prevented from getting near the victim by a friend.

At 11.20pm, Araujo turned up at the victim’s address in Peterborough, along with the two other defendants.

Araujo challenged the victim to a fight, and the victim was then punched to the face by Pereira, 33 of Gladstone Street, Peterborough.

Pereira was pulled away by another man, but the victim was kicked numerous times by Araujo.

The third defendant – Ximenes, 21 of Gladstone Street, Peterborough – then punched the victim from behind to the face.

The attack carried on for a short time until officers arrived on scene. The victim was able to point out and identify who had attacked him, as the three men were still in the area.

The man was taken to hospital with serious injuries and required surgery to fix a broken jaw.

Pereira, Ximenes and Araujo were charged with assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and both Pereira and Araujo stood trial at Peterborough Crown Court in November.

Araujo was also found guilty of a further charge of possessing an offensive weapon in public. Ximenes previously pleaded guilty to the offence and did not stand trial.

All three defendants were sentenced on Friday (4 January) at the same court.

Araujo was handed a sentence of five years and six months in prison.

Pereira received a nine-month prison sentence and Ximenes, having previously admitted the offence, was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for 24 months. He was also ordered to carry out 260 hours of unpaid work.

DI Tim Archer said: “This was a terrifying and traumatic attack for the victim, which left him with a broken jaw requiring hospital surgery.“It was a nasty and serious assault and the outcome could easily have been much worse.

“The sentences in this case reflect how seriously matters of violence are taken by both the force and the courts.”