A drunken man who went looking for an alleged sex offender while armed with a knife and a wheel brace has been jailed.
Colin James Clarke, 39, of Flint High Street, had seen a press report of a man from Oakenholt who had been charged with sexual assault and whose case had been adjourned for trial.
At Flintshire magistrates’ court at Mold on Tuesday, Clarke was told he had tried to take the law into his own hands irrespective of the guilt or otherwise of the other man.
He received a total of 26 weeks imprisonment after he admitted possessing the weapons in Chester Road in Oakenholt on the night of September 15.
When searching for the man, Clarke had approached a random woman at her home and showed her the knife and wheel brace.
He had been encouraged to do it by another person, but there was some degree of pre-planning, the court heard.
“It is quite clear you went to vent your anger at this man irrespective of his guilt or innocence,” the judge said.
Probation officer Andrew Connah said Clarke accepted full responsibility for what he had done while fuelled by alcohol and urged on by another.
“On reflection, he considers himself to be something of an idiot,” he said.
“He does not understand what he hoped to prove by strutting up and down the street like some sort of vigilante.”
Prosecutor Rhian Jackson said that, at 3.30pm, a woman answered the door to find the defendant asking if a named man lived there.
He appeared drunk but calm, and she went out to speak to him but closed the door behind her.
Clarke said he was looking for a sex offender who he alleged lived in the area, and then showed her the knife and wheel brace hidden in his clothing.
He showed her a newspaper cutting of a case in court and his demeanour changed.
The court heard his voice took on a serious tone and he started bouncing around from one foot to another.
The woman told him he should leave it to the police, but he said: “Sometimes, you need to take matters into your own hands.”
He told her: “I will kill him. Someone is going to die tonight.”
Before leaving, it was alleged he told her she was sexy and asked if he could have a kiss.
She refused and he asked for “a high five”.
He then left and she raised the alarm.
Police arrested him and the knife was found in a garden and the wheel brace in a recycling bin.
Cautioned, Clarke said he wanted to stab the man in the neck.
But, interviewed later, he said he did not believe he would have done anything.
He had been knocking on doors in the area looking for him, but Clarke said he would have let the criminal justice system do its work.
Bethan Jones, defending, said her client - a qualified upholsterer who had not been in trouble for 12 years - co-operated with police and entered early guilty pleas.
He was alcohol dependent and had drunk a large amount of alcohol before he went to find the man.
Ms Jones said her client would never have found the man because he was in the wrong place.
He wished to apologise to the lady who had been disturbed.
http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/armed-flintshire-vigilante-went-looking-11984683
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