A teenager who was himself 'stabbed in the head' was caught hiding a machete at a Birmingham railway station, a court heard. Kasharn Smith-Johnson tried to conceal the 'frightening' weapon, along with a lock knife in his trousers, on the platform at Erdington station on April 2.
The 19-year-old, of Wave Close, Walsall, was previously stabbed himself and had friends who were killed and shot while embroiled in the city's gang culture, Birmingham Magistrates' Court heard. After the discovery of the two knives, he told a police officer: 'I want my life back and to be away from that culture,' the court heard.
Guilty plea and sentencing
Smith-Johnson pleaded guilty to two counts of knife possession in a public place at his sentencing on Tuesday, April 21. He was given a six-month prison sentence, which was suspended for a year, in a bid to deter him from further crime.
Sentencing, Deputy District Judge Wallace warned him: 'Knives are the plague upon our society, especially young men such as yourself who are more likely to die as a result of carrying a knife, or somebody else carrying a knife.'
The teenager had been seen by police 'trying to conceal something' on platform two of the station at around 5pm, the court heard. 'They saw him knelt down trying to conceal something seemingly,' said Zuzanna Pogorzelska, prosecuting. 'They conducted a search and found a machete. He was therefore arrested and taken into custody. He told police he also had a lock knife in his trousers. He admitted he had a machete and that it was him concealing it earlier.'
Previous conviction and background
In November, Smith-Johnson had been given a community order for a previous conviction of knife possession. Mrs Jan, mitigating, said: 'He has done well with that order, I should bring to the court's attention. He has fully engaged with the probation service. He was very frank and very open about the circumstances of his life and the negative influences in his life and moving away from those, which he accepts he hadn't.'
'He grew up in care with a lot of placements in his young life.' He was now said to be living back with his mother in a 'stable' environment. Mrs Jan added: 'He talked about the negative influences, he talked about gang culture. He's very much a young man who knows this is completely wrong and the negative influences are wrong. He was stabbed himself to the head, so he knows only too well, the court may say, what knife crime does. He has friends that have been shot, killed, stabbed so it's within that culture that he has found himself.'
She implored the judge to suspend his sentence and 'give a young man a second chance' with the hope of him 'turning his life around.'
Judge's warning and suspended sentence
The judge chose to suspend the prison term for 12 months, meaning it would not be served unless he committed another crime in a year. He told Smith-Johnson: 'You already had a chance. You were warned about carrying a knife and then on this occasion you were carrying two knives including a machete, a frightening item. The possession of them just puts you in danger. You get killed or you kill somebody, either way your life is ruined.'
He added: 'You are very young, you are not fully developed as far as adulthood is concerned. I take into account your background. But you are an adult and there are consequences to your actions. You never have to go to prison, all you have to do is turn up to probation appointments and not commit any further crimes. You will have markers on you and you will no doubt be searched again by police. If you continue to carry knives, you will go to prison.'
Smith-Johnson was also told to pay a £154 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.
