A real life Sherlock found it was anything but elementary after he launched his own investigation into a suspected drug dealer near his home.
Allan Sherlock ended up being attacked by the man during a confrontation in an alleyway and then arrested by police when he armed himself with two metal bars and set off on a revenge mission.
Sherlock, aged 28, alarmed passers by brandishing the weapons and shouting threats in the street and he became violent and abusive when the police were called.
He told officers he had no faith in the police because they always ended up arresting him instead of catching those he thought were more serious criminals.
Sherlock, of Parkers Close, Totnes, admitted affray and was jailed for three months, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay a £80 victim surcharge by Recorder Mr Simon Levene at Exeter Crown Court.
The recorder dismissed his attempts at vigilante action. He told him:"You are here to be sentenced for making a disgusting, drunken, violent, sweary spectacle which was disturbing to people who saw it.
"You don't know how to control yourself when you have been drinking and the probation service say you are at high risk of re-offending.
"I bear in mind you had been assaulted before this happened. You went back out not to defend yourself but seek revenge."
Miss Emily Pitts, prosecuting, said Sherlock was living in Paignton at the time of the offence and police were called when residents saw him with two dumb bell bars.
He was seen shouting up at a window saying 'come on, lets do it, you got raided so it must be true'. Police followed him home and found the weapons and he continued being abusive after his arrest, swearing in the presence of children and other neighbours.
He told he officers:"That bloke is up there dealing drugs and you are hassling me. I've got not confidence in the police. I'm always the one who gets arrested."
He said he had shared a bottle of vodka and confronted a man who he suspected of giving cannabis to a 13-year-old boy.
Mr Barry White, defending, said Sherlock is now receiving treatment for a paranoid condition. He said he was angry because he had just been attacked in an alleyway with a metal bar and suffered bruising to his arms and torso.
Mr White said:"He went home and ruminated. He wanted to show the person who had just caused him injury he would not be cowed. He grabbed the first thing to come to hand. It was a bad decision which led him to commit this affray."
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