British man jailed after hunting for Muslims to stab in London

Mickey Sage said he “would be a martyr for England and stab an imam in the neck”

Mickey Sage was jailed for two years and three months at Inner London Crown Court. Metropolitan Police

A man has been jailed after he admitted walking around the streets of London with a large knife looking for Muslims to stab.

Mickey Sage, 24, of no fixed address, was arrested in Camberwell, south London in June after police received reports that a man was pulling a knife on people and asking if they were Muslim.

Sage was found by police in possession arrested. A 10-inch knife was found nearby, which Sage admitted was his, telling police he was “out to kill a Muslim”.

During an interview Sage claimed that he “would be a martyr for England and stab an imam in the neck.”

After pleading guilty to two counts of threatening a person in a public place with a knife, admitting his crimes were racially motivated, Sage was jailed for two years and three months at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday.

Detective Constable Samuel Cafferty from Southwark CID said the incident could have had “a very different ending”.

"Hate crime like this has no place in any society,” he said. "Sage poses a very clear and present danger to members of the public, particularly the Muslim community, and I'm pleased that he now has plenty of time to consider his actions.

"Members of the public confronted by Sage were not harmed but shaken by their ordeal and managed to get away from what could have been a very different ending."

Hate crime in the United Kingdom rose between by 29 per cent in one year, according to Home Office statistics released last month.

There were 80,393 offences recorded in 2016-17, compared with 62,518 in 2015-16, which is the largest increase since the Home Office began recording hate crimes in 2011.

Spikes in the number of hate crimes recorded were seen in the weeks following the attacks on Westminster Bridge, Manchester Arena and London Bridge.