Vicious neighbours’ dispute turns into bloody machete attack in driveway, slices off ear lobe

WARNING: This story contains graphic details of a machete attack and may be upsetting.

After swinging a machete down on his neighbour’s neck, slicing off the victim’s ear lobe, Jaden Minhinnick stood in their shared driveway and brought the weapon down again, this time aimed at the man’s head.

In that moment, the victim managed to put his arm up as protection, causing the blade to sink into his forearm instead and leaving a wound so “vicious” it broke the man’s arm.

There had been “growing intense conflict” between Minhinnick and his Hamilton neighbour in the lead-up to the attack.

The pair shared a driveway and continued to have difficulties “residing peacefully in exercising their respective rights to the driveway”, given there would always be times when each needed to use it, court documents stated.

On this particular day, the victim and his family arrived home after being away to find Minhinnick and his friends working on a vehicle in the driveway, blocking it.

The victim’s partner approached Minhinnick, who was 20 at the time, and his friend to see if the family could pass and was told to “Get f***** b****” and that they wouldn’t be moving.

She returned to the car and the victim got out and approached Minhinnick and threatened him, saying: “If you don’t move, I will kill you.”

He told police he said that in an attempt to persuade the men to shift their vehicle, but it was unsuccessful.

The victim then walked past the men and picked up two empty beer bottles before smashing them and approaching Minhinnick and his friend, telling police he did that as he was outnumbered and felt he needed protection.

He didn’t wave the broken bottles around but as the man stood there, Minhinnick went to his car and grabbed a machete.

Minhinnick approached the victim and swung the machete down on the left side of his neck.

He suffered “a very significant” gash to the lower side of his face, his ear lobe was severed and the gash travelled from behind his left ear across his cheek almost to the point of his jaw.

In a state of shock and in a bid to create some space between them, the victim threw the bottles at Minhinnick and then threw another two that he found nearby.

Minhinnick meanwhile was still waving the machete around before again bringing it down on the victim toward his head.

The victim managed to put his arm up to protect his head but suffered a wound so deep, it broke his arm.

Minhinnick then said to his mate: “Shall I kill his family too?” But the friend managed to talk him out of it and they left the property.

Appearing in the Hamilton District Court last week, Minhinnick pleaded guilty to two charges of wounding with intent to injure.

He was convicted and remanded to reappear for sentencing in January.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for eight years and been a journalist for 19.