Selby 'Star Wars' machete attack man jailed for 10 years Published duration 24 January

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption Shekquarn Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to four counts of wounding with intent

A man who stabbed and slashed four people when he swung a machete "like a lightsaber in Star Wars" has been jailed for 10 years.

Shekquarn Fitzgerald unleashed his wave of violence in North Yorkshire in the early hours of 5 August 2018.

Fitzgerald, 19, of Birmingham, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court to four counts of wounding with intent.

His victims all needed hospital treatment after the attack on Micklegate, Selby.

A second man Benjamin Wilson, 24, also from Birmingham, who had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving and handling stolen goods, was sentenced to two years.

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption Benjamin Wilson was jailed for two years

On arrival at the scene, police officers had found an injured man being helped by a friend, who had a chest wound, after being slashed across his left ear and left shoulder, North Yorkshire Police said.

Two other men "fled for their lives" and were found about 200 yards away.

One had a large slash wound to his chest and a deep laceration to the bone on his right bicep.

The other had a deep cut to his right wrist, which caused tendon damage, said the force.

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption A still from CCTV showing Fitzgerald with the machete in his hand

Witnesses described one of the attackers "running around, swinging [the machete] like a lightsaber in Star Wars" and "like something from a film", said police.

A member of the public found the weapon after it was discarded in a bin in Selby. Forensic investigations uncovered Fitzgerald's DNA on its handle and that of three of his victims on its blade.

CCTV had shown a fight involving Wilson and then Fitzgerald retrieving a machete from the Audi, before joining in and inflicting the injuries.

Fitzgerald, of Bond Steet, Stirchley, Birmingham and Wilson of Arthur Street, Small Heath, Birmingham were arrested after police chased a black Audi that later collided with a taxi in Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said the attack had "had a significant impact" on the victims.

Local business owners that had "crucial CCTV evidence" and witnesses who came forward, were praised by the force.

Fitzgerald, 19, was also sentenced to a three-year extended licence.