Mickey Sage
Mickey Sage has now been jailed for more than two years Met Police

KEY POINTS

  • Mickey Sage sentenced to more than two years for London hate crime.
  • He told police 'he would be a martyr for England and stab an imam in the neck' upon arrest.

A man who armed himself with a 10-inch knife and ran around south-east London looking for Muslims to kill has been jailed.

Mickey Sage, 24, claimed he was acting as a "martyr for England" when he went searching for Muslims to stab in the early hours of 7 June in Camberwell.

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Police were called to near Camberwell Green Court around 1:45am following reports of a man threatening people. Less than ten minutes later police were called again to Camberwell Green junction with Camberwell Church Street regarding a male pulling out a knife on people asking them if they are Muslim.

When officers arrived, they found a number of people in distress but unharmed. Sage matched the description of the man making the threats and was stopped and searched by attending officers.

A member of the public then told officers Sage had hidden the 10-inch knife he was using to threaten people with, which was then recovered nearby.

Sage was arrested for possession of an offensive weapon. While being taken into custody, Sage admitted to the arresting officers "it was my knife and I was out to kill a Muslim".

He also made a number of Islamophobic comments en route to custody and when questioned he admitted he was out that night to try and find a Muslim to stab. He went on to claim that "he would be a martyr for England and stab an imam in the neck."

Appearing at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court, Sage pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening a person in a public place with a knife, both of which were religiously aggravated. He has now been jailed for two years and three months.

DC Samuel Cafferty from Southwark CID said: "Sage set out with a large knife with the clear intention to find Muslims to stab. Hate crime like this has no place in any society.

"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 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."