A fancy dress party goer who was dressed as Herr Flick from ’Allo ’Allo has been praised by a judge for disarming a knife-wielding teenager.

Binge drinker Ryan Gooding was waving a large kitchen knife in the centre of Newton Abbot when he was grabbed by shopkeeper Tim Dobson, who was wearing Herr Flick’s familiar leather coat and Fedora hat.

He was walking back from a party in the early hours when he saw 18-year-old Gooding waving a knife about. He intervened after he saw the youth putting the knife behind his back as he approached a group of men walking towards him.

Gooding, of Queen Street, Newton Abbot, admitted having a knife in a public place and was jailed for six months, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 140 hours unpaid community work by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC.

He told him: "People who wander around the streets carrying knives normally get prison sentences because it is a very serious thing to do.

"If you had not been disarmed by a very courageous and quick-thinking member of the public who got hold of the knife, you might have done someone very serious harm and be going to prison for several years.

"You need to be very careful in the future about how much you drink. However, you are only 18 and happily nobody was harmed, so I am able to suspend the sentence."

Francesca Whebell, prosecuting, said Gooding was arrested in the early hours of October 25 after being detained by two men.

She said: "He was seen acting in a purposeful and agitated manner carrying a kitchen knife. The two witnesses were concerned and called the police and followed him to see where he was going.

"One of them told him to put the knife down but he did not appear to hear or acknowledge their presence. It came to a stage where there were five men walking in the opposite direction.

"The witnesses became concerned because they saw him hide the knife behind his back. They told the police on the phone they were going to intervene and one grabbed him from behind and pulling the knife away."

Gooding told police he was so drunk he could not remember anything and did not know where the knife came from.

Brian Fitzherbert, mitigating, urged the Judge to follow the suggestion of a probation report that Gooding should receive help to address his abuse of alcohol.

Mr Dobson, aged 50, runs the nearby Circle 8 store and was walking home with friend Charles Walker, aged 46, from a party where they were both wearing Herr Flick outfits.

Speaking at the time, he said he held onto Gooding for about 15 minutes until the police arrived.

He said: "I acted on instinct. I did what had to be done because there was nobody else there. I didn’t consider my own safety."