A man who picked up a knife used to stab a teenager has been imprisoned for eight months for perverting the course of justice.

Rivan Kader, 19, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court today after pleading guilty to the offence which occurred after a gang fight in Ewell in which the teenager was stabbed.

The hearing was part of a complex case, involving 22 other teenagers and men, which relates to the incident on the Watersedge estate in November 2013.

Kader, from Chessington, was sentenced to 32 weeks at a young offender institution, but this sentence was reduced by 20 days because he has been on a curfew.

The court heard that two groups allegedly armed themselves with batons, bars, knives, golf clubs, poles and other weapons and met to fight just after 7pm on November 11.

One teenager was stabbed in the chest during the brawl allegedly between factions from Watersedge and Chessington.

There was no evidence that Kader took part in this fight, but he later went to collect the abandoned knife and passed it on.

During sentencing, Judge Critchlow told him: "When somebody asked you to retrieve the knife used in the stabbing, you did so.

"This was after you had been stopped by the police and questioned. Whether it was to gain street cred or to gain recognition within the group, that is what you chose to do."

He described stabbing somebody as a "most serious matter" and pointed out that the knife in question has never been found.

He said: "Removing therefore a key piece of evidence, which that knife was, is a serious matter."

Prosecutor Deepak Kapur said it appeared that the incident had been sparked by an altercation at Nescot college in Ewell involving a girl and several male youths.

The two factions allegedly agreed to meet on the Watersedge estate where violence erupted and fireworks were set off.

Police officers saw the fight and helped the stabbed teenager. Mr Kapur said: "A large amount of weapons were found scattered at various locations."

Since his arrest, police interviews and pleading guilty to the crime, Mr Kader has been frightened.

The judge said he has never been in trouble before, noting: "You said to a probation officer that you would be safer in custody."

A probation officer told the court that Kader was at his "wits end" and needed to move away to another part of the country.

She said: "He's taken responsibility for what he did. He's a young man who is absolutely petrified."

Defence lawyer David Forsyth said his client, aged 17 at the time of his crime, might have wanted to gain "kudos" but his actions were not premeditated or thought through.