A Melbourne tradesman faces a long recovery after being slashed with a machete when he confronted teenagers outside his home in Croydon. A group of teens threw rocks at his roof on Lincoln Road in Croydon on 9 March at about 10.15pm. The group fled before returning at 2.30am to throw more rocks at his property.
The 64-year-old man took action after being told police had no units available to respond. He got inside his vehicle and chased the group to Manchester Road in Mooroolbark, where an altercation occurred. A member of the group used a machete to slash the victim. The man sustained deep lacerations to his arm, fractured bone, and injuries to his fingers. His partner described the aftermath as devastating, saying he returned home "in a bloodbath".
Police believe the parties were not known to each other. No arrests have been made. The Yarra Ranges crime investigation unit detectives are investigating the incident.
The attack has shaken the victim's family and prompted calls for broader action. His partner expressed frustration about the police response and the state of community safety more broadly. "We need to change this country, we need to get the country back to the way it was," she said.
The incident occurs against a backdrop of escalating violence involving edged weapons. Incidents involving machetes tripled between 2021 and 2024, with young males responsible for two in five of the incidents, according to Crime Statistics Agency data. Victoria Police seized more than 15,000 knives, machetes and zombie knives in 2025.
The Croydon attack also comes days after security guard Aidan Becker, 22, died at Mernda Railway Station in Melbourne's northeast on Friday evening after intervening to protect a 14-year-old boy from a group of four alleged teenage attackers. Four male teens were arrested at the scene, three of whom have been charged with murder and armed robbery.
Responding to the Mernda killing, Victoria Police commander Wayne Cheeseman noted the consequences of weapon possession, saying a weapon "can cost someone their life, it can cost you your future." Premier Jacinta Allan announced that the state government's Violence Reduction Unit would be deployed to Mernda, where it will work alongside Victoria Police and the Department of Education to provide community support and address the root causes of youth crime.
In 2025, Victoria introduced a ban on machete possession, following months of escalating incidents. A machete amnesty, which ended on November 30, resulted in about 25,000 weapons being handed in during the programme. Yet violent offences and car thefts are key drivers of Victoria's 18% year-on-year rise in recorded incidents, with increases concentrated in Melbourne's outer-growth suburbs such as Wyndham, Casey, Melton, and Hume.
The Croydon victim's case illustrates a troubling pattern: a resident's attempt to protect his own property, combined with delayed police response and the presence of armed teenagers, created conditions for serious violence. Whether weapon bans, amnesty programs, or the newly deployed violence reduction units address the underlying drivers of youth crime remains contested among policymakers and community advocates alike.