An ex-teacher who sent racist emails to Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and her husband has been jailed.
Kieran Kyle also claimed to have been in the IRA and suggested he would have ‘shot you f****** dead’ during his time in the Northern Irish paramilitary group in his messages to the leader of the opposition.
Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard today that Kyle made racist references in two emails to Mrs Badenoch’s parliamentary email address.
The 43-year-old also used a racist term in an April 29 email to the Tory leader’s Hamish, whose email address is not in the public domain, and said he should ‘put a leash on her’.
Three days later, Kyle reacted angrily to a video posted by Mrs Badenoch on social media which used footage from Bloody Sunday to criticise proposed legislation addressing the Troubles.
He wrote to her: ‘I’m ex-IRA, so Bloody Sunday references from you are going to give you trouble.’
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In another message to Hamish Badenoch on May 2, Kyle used a racist term and told him to ‘pray she never ends up in Belfast cos she’ll be left face down in a ditch with a bullet in her head’.
Kyle, of Gillingham in Kent, was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison after pleading guilty at a previous hearing to two counts of sending communication of an indecent or offensive nature.
Baiju Thittala, defending, told the court that the former secondary school teacher ‘did not know’ who Mrs Badenoch was at the time, and ‘he only realised later, once he had sent the emails’.
The lawyer also said Kyle had never been a member of the IRA despite his claims.
When District Judge Sam Goozee asked how Kyle could not know who the Conservative leader was, Mr Thittala replied: ‘He just googled it and it came up as the opposition leader.’
The judge disagreed, saying: ‘The first emails were sent to Mr Badenoch, so I don’t think he did not appreciate who Mrs Badenoch was.
‘So he clearly knew who Mrs Badenoch was because he researched her husband’s details first.’
Prosecutor Ben Holt said the North West Essex MP and her husband were both ‘distressed’ and ‘upset’ by the incident, particularly the ‘racist language and threats of violence used towards them’.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr and Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Our primary concern arising from this offence is not the personal impact on us, but the wider consequences that malicious communications and targeted harassment have on our democratic life.
‘When individuals choose to intimidate, threaten, or aggressively target elected representatives or public figures, the harm extends far beyond any single person. It undermines a healthy democracy.’
Kyle was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting Kemi Badenoch, Hamish Badenoch or Mrs Badenoch’s parliamentary office for five years.
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