Man Jailed Over Racist Death Threats to Kemi Badenoch

Kieran Kyle, a 43-year-old man from Gillingham in Kent, has been jailed for sending racist emails threatening to shoot Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch. The emails were sent on 2 May and contained racist references and claims that Kyle had been in the IRA.

Kyle pleaded guilty on 22 September at Westminster Magistrates' Court to two counts of sending communications of an indecent or offensive nature. He was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison at the same court on Monday.

The court heard that in two of the emails, Kyle made racist references and wrote: “I'm ex-IRA, so Bloody Sunday references from you are going to give you trouble.” The messages were sent on the day Badenoch apologised for footage from Bloody Sunday being mistakenly used in a social media clip to criticise a parliamentary Bill on legacy issues in Northern Ireland.

Kyle also sent an email to Badenoch's husband Hamish on 29 April, which used a racist term and said she had a “big mouth” and he should “put a leash on her.”

In a victim impact statement, Badenoch and her husband said the “malicious communications and targeted harassment” not only affected them but also undermined “a healthy democracy.” The prosecutor, Ben Holt, said the MP and her husband were left “distressed” and “upset” by the messages, particularly the “racist language and threats of violence.”

The judge also handed Kyle a restraining order, meaning he cannot contact Badenoch, her husband or her parliamentary office for five years.