A 16-year-old asylum seeker has been jailed after being sentenced for 13 offences including a stabbing, possession of heroin and crack cocaine, and dangerous driving.

Several of the crimes committed by the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, took place in Newham at the end of last year.

They include a stabbing in East Ham on November 16 following an argument outside a chicken shop.

Stratford Youth Court heard that the boy stabbed a man in the arm after his victim moved to avoid being wounded in the abdominal area.

The youth, who pleaded not guilty, was later convicted in court and sentenced at Stratford Youth Court on February 2, along with various other offences.

These included being in possession of Class A drugs heroin and crack cocaine on December 12 in East Ham, approximately a month after the stabbing, to which he pleaded guilty.

The youth was also convicted of dangerous driving without insurance after he was stopped in Dane Road, Ilford, on November 1.

He was sentenced to eight month concurrent sentences for two separate counts of possessing a knife, actual bodily harm and dangerous driving.

The court heard that the youth, whose age had been “determined” as 16 despite him claiming he was 13, had no prior convictions and “was previously of good character”.

He was also said to have endured a “traumatic upbringing” in his early life, all of which judge Chris Ashton said he took into consideration when sentencing the individual.

He added: “However some of these matters are very serious and we have decided, particularly with the knife offences, that we must follow the guidance with that.”