A former teacher just got jailed for threatening to shoot Kemi Badenoch dead

A former secondary school teacher has just been jailed for sending Kemi Badenoch and her husband racist emails and death threats.

Kieran Kyle is 43. He's from Gillingham in Kent.

A few hours ago, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring sentenced him to 20 weeks in prison at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

So how did this start?

About six months ago, Kemi Badenoch's social media posted a video attacking the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill. It mistakenly used footage from Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers killed thirteen unarmed civilians in Londonderry back in 1972.

Kemi Badenoch says she didn't sign off that video. She says it was posted by young people on her team.

The very next day, Kyle emailed her husband, Hamish Badenoch. He used a racist term. He said Kemi Badenoch had a big mouth. He told her husband to put a leash on her.

Then a few days later, the same day Kemi Badenoch apologised for the footage, Kyle sent her three more emails. This time, straight to her.

In two of them, he claimed to be ex-IRA and warned her that bringing up Bloody Sunday would cause her trouble.

In another, he said that if he'd really been in the IRA, he would have shot her dead.

And in a further email, using a racist term, he said she should pray she never ends up in Belfast, warning her she'd end up dead in a ditch.

Now, here's the twist. Kyle's lawyer, Baiju Thittala, told the court his client didn't actually know who Kemi Badenoch was when he sent those emails. He says Kyle only worked it out afterwards. He also confirmed Kyle was never in the IRA at all. The whole thing was invented.

The judge wasn't having it.

He pointed out that the first email went to the husband, Hamish Badenoch. So Kyle had already researched the family before he ever wrote to Kemi Badenoch herself.

The judge put it plainly: quote "He clearly knew who Mrs Badenoch was because he researched her husband's details first".

Prosecutor Ben Holt told the court that Kemi Badenoch, named in court as the MP for North West Essex, and her husband were left distressed and upset by the racist language and the threats of violence.

Cheryl Bacon runs Kemi Badenoch's parliamentary office. She says the emails were disgusting and distressing to read.

And here's the part that matters most. In their victim impact statement, Kemi Badenoch and Hamish Badenoch said their biggest worry wasn't the impact on themselves. It was the impact on democracy itself.

They wrote that harassing elected politicians and public figures damages our democracy, puts good people off entering public service, and lowers the quality of leadership available to all of us.

So what happens to Kyle now?

Alongside the 20 weeks in prison, he's been given a five-year restraining order. He cannot contact Kemi Badenoch, Hamish Badenoch, or her parliamentary office. Not for five years.

Kemi Badenoch remains leader of the Conservative Party.

And it's not known whether Kyle plans to appeal.