Northampton man sentenced for stirring up racial hatred
It follows posts on social media
A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison after he pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred.
Tyler James Kay, previously of Ellfield Court, Northampton, admitted to publishing the inflammatory posts on social media on August 7, during a period of unrest across the country.
In his police interview, Kay accepted that others could have been influenced by the language used but stated that he copied and pasted part of one post from another account in order to show that “an average 'Joe Bloggs' like me would not be arrested for it.”
The CPS says as well as the offensive tweet, Kay also reposted a screenshot of another message inciting action against a named immigration solicitors in Northampton.
The judge at Northampton Crown Court said she was "completely sure he knew racial hatred would be stirred up" as a result of "utterly replusive racist and shocking posts that have no place in civilised society".
Detective Chief Superintendent Rich Tompkins said:
“I hope this case sends a very clear message to people who think they can hide behind a screen and publish hateful, racially prejudiced posts without consequence.
“This case is not an example of preventing ‘freedom of speech’ as a small minority of people will claim.
“It is about standing up for what is right and protecting our communities from fear of violence. After all, freedom of speech is not freedom to spread racial hatred.
“This week, we have had some really positive engagements with communities across the county, most notably the gathering of people standing against racism in Northampton on Wednesday evening.
"We stand with our communities and will do everything we can to help them feel safe and protected from crime.”