A legal high user has been jailed for shooting an entirely innocent man with a crossbow because the drugs made him believe he had been spying on him.

Leo Michaels became convinced that victim Lee Hewitt had gone into his house and had been watching him and his wife in the shower.

He took revenge by going to 25-year-old Mr Hewitt’s caravan armed with the crossbow and shooting him without warning as he opened the door.

The bolt went up inside Mr Hewitt’s arm from the elbow to close to the shoulder and caused horrific injuries which almost killed him by severing a vital artery.

It also severed a nerve and resulted in Mr Hewitt, who worked as a farm labourer, losing the use of his right hand and having severely restricted use of his whole arm.

Michaels hid the crossbow before police arrived and then dug up nine Krugerrands, which he had buried nearby, and gave them to Mr Hewitt as he lay seriously injured on the floor of his caravan, apparently asking him not to report the attack.

Mr Hewitt almost died and had to be transferred from Torbay Hospital to the Royal Devon and Exeter, where he was saved by a six-hour emergency operation.

Businessman Michaels, aged 36, of Hensford Road, Dawlish, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for six years by Judge Mr Justice Dingemans at Exeter Crown Court.

He ordered he should start his sentence as a secure patient at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish, where he is currently being treated, and finish it in prison if and when he is well enough to be discharged.

He told him: ’You started abusing what were legal highs and this case is another example of the destruction caused to society by the abuse of drugs.

’You developed delusional thinking and went out armed with a crossbow because you believed Mr Hewitt had been observing you and your partner. There is no evidence whatsoever that was true.

’You also reported hearing the police helicopter when no-one else could and became convinced you were subject to electronic eavesdropping. You had become mentally unbalanced.

’You showed remorse at the time and dug up nine Krugerrands which you had hidden after winning money on gambling. You handed them to him and I see this as some attempt to show remorse and give assistance.’

The judge ordered that the Krugerrands, which are worth about £9,000 and are currently held by the police, should be sold and the money paid the victim as compensation.

He also praised the emergency services for saving Mr Hewitt’s life and the police for the way they carried out the investigation.

Mr Kennan Siva, prosecuting, said Mr Hewitt worked for Michaels’ step brother and lived in a caravan at his Millcroft Farm at Dawlish.

He was awoken by shouting on the morning of July 16 and was shot through the arm at close range when he opened the door of his caravan to investigate.

He said the injury threatened Mr Hewitt’s life and has been ’life-changing’ because he used to work with his hands as a farm labourer and can no longer do so. He has been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and is being treated for depression.

Mr Siva said: ’Michaels was under the misguided belief Mr Hewitt had broken into his home. He attacked a man who was utterly defenceless and vulnerable in his caravan. He tracked him down because of a misinformed desire for revenge.

’He made an attempt to placate the victim by offering him money and giving him nine Krugerrands.’

Mr Nigel Wraith, mitigating, said Michaels had come to his senses after firing the crossbow and had taken off his shirt and used it as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from Mr Hewitt’s arm.

He said the handing over of the gold coins was not an attempt at bribery but a demonstration of how Michaels showed remorse immediately after carrying out the attack.