A man who prowled the streets looking for Muslims to stab, believing he would become "a martyr for England", has been jailed.

Mickey Sage, 24, was arrested in the early hours of June 7 on Camberwell Church Street, Camberwell Green, south London, after pulling a knife on two people and asking them if they were Muslim.

The 10in knife was found nearby.

On the way to the police station, Sage told officers: "It was my knife and I was out to kill Muslims."

In interview he said he was looking for Muslims to stab, saying he would be "a martyr for England and stab an imam in the neck".

Sage, of no fixed address, admitted two counts of threatening a person in a public place with a knife and accepted his crimes were racially aggravated.

He was jailed for two years and three months at Inner London Crown Court on Monday, Scotland Yard said.

Detective Constable Samuel Cafferty from Southwark CID said: "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 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.

"The Met have long since recognised the impact of hate crime on communities and the hidden nature of this crime, which remains largely under-reported."

By Tess de la Mare