Two men aged 19 and 20 have been charged with attempted murder after severing a young man's hand with a machete in Gröndal, southern Stockholm, last year. The attack occurred by mistake as the perpetrators believed the victim was someone else.
The incident took place on a December evening last year. The victim, a man in his 20s, had been sent by his 21-year-old friend to buy Tramadol. The two charged men met him and believed he was someone else they wanted to take revenge on.
According to the indictment, the men struck the victim down with a machete. On the third blow the victim tried to take the machete from the perpetrator, which resulted in his entire hand being severed. He also suffered severe injuries to his leg. Both the victim and his friend have described the course of events in the same way during interviews.
Police hypothesis is that the attack was revenge for an assault on the 20-year-old charged man in September. The 21-year-old friend had previously been suspected of that assault. The 19-year-old charged man has admitted to the assault but denies attempted murder and says it was the 20-year-old who unexpectedly pulled out the machete. The 20-year-old denies all involvement.
