A TEENAGER who carried an 11 inch machete on a train for protection has been jailed.

Remell Isaac-Brown has been jailed for 146 days after police discovered the weapon concealed in his clothing as he travelled on a c2c train.

British Transport Police officers were carrying out patrols on the train lines on December 16 when they scanned Isaac-Brown with a metal detector, which located a metal object concealed within his tracksuit.

The 19-year-old then revealed the machete, which police measured to reveal its length.

Isaac-Brown was arrested at Basildon Railway Station and later charged with possession of an offensive weapon.

He appeared at Basildon Crown Court yesterday for sentencing.

He dressed in a white shirt and had his head bowed for most of the hearing.

Mitigation for Isaac-Brown said he had fully admitted to having the weapon at the first instance and that he had been carrying it with him “for protection” due to him losing friends to stabbings and attacks from gang members.

It was also said he is the carer for his mother and the family have had to be relocated due to fear of gang violence.

Recorder Tim Clark QC told Isaac-Brown: “This country is facing an epidemic of knife crime and its because people like you are carrying knives in public.

“You are not protecting yourself, you are adding to the fear, and you are adding to the risk by having one.

“You are exactly the type of offender to be given immediate custody.”

Isaac-Brown, of Sundale Avenue, Croydon, has two previous convictions for carrying weapons in March 2018.