Man jailed for racist emails threatening Kemi Badenoch

A former teacher has been jailed for 20 weeks after sending racist emails threatening to shoot Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, a court heard.

Kieran Kyle, 43, from Gillingham, Kent, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 22 September to two counts of sending communications of an indecent or offensive nature. He was sentenced at the same court on Monday.

Kyle sent three emails to Badenoch on 2 May. In two, he made racist references and claimed to have been in the IRA, the court heard. One email said she would get “a bullet in her head” if she went to Belfast.

The threats came on the day Badenoch apologised for footage of Bloody Sunday being mistakenly included in a social media clip criticising a Northern Ireland legacy bill. She said she had not signed off the video, which had been posted on 28 April.

The court also heard that Kyle emailed Badenoch’s husband, Hamish, on 29 April, using a racist slur and saying she had a “big mouth” and he should “put a leash on her”.