Racist who abused Yannick Bolasie jailed - after being outed as a paedophile
Kirk Thompson was also found to have images of child abuse on his phone
Last updated 6th Jan 2022
A man who sent racist abuse to footballer Yannick Bolasie, and was then found to have images of child abuse on his phone, has been jailed.
Kirk Thompson was handed a year-long prison term at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in Fife on Thursday by Sheriff Alastair Brown, who said the 22-year-old poses a risk of significant harm.
Thompson, of Ravenscraig in Kirkcaldy, was exposed on social media by the DR Congo star, who shared a screenshot of the racial slur sent to him in an Instagram direct message in March last year.
The footballer branded his abuser a "keyboard warrior" and a rat.
Sheriff Brown told Thompson that his actions were deliberate and contributed to what he described as a trend of abuse being sent online and a toxic environment.
He said: "The court is aware that those in any sort of prominent position in public regularly receive abusive texts and are denigrated online by those whose only qualification to do so is they are able to switch on a mobile phone."
He said the words used seek to "diminish the individual", and told him: "Courts will always take abuse of that sort very seriously."
When the footballer saw the message, he shared it and, accompanied by a rat emoji, he wrote: "Something seriously wrong with people... keyboard warriors.
"Still yet to meet a person who had this energy when they saw me."
Thompson found with indecent images of children on his phone
Thompson pleaded guilty to three charges: possession of indecent images of children, permitting to be taken or making indecent images of children, and sending a racist message.
During a police search of his phone last March, four indecent images and movies were discovered.
Two were rated category A, considered to be the most severe, and two were category B. One other image found with text added to it was reported as category C.
The two category-A videos in Thompson’s possession and that they were 22 seconds and 52 seconds in length.
Officers also uncovered a pair of category-B videos and that each of them were a minute-long.
Sheriff Brown ruled the harm to be significant, despite the small number of images found in Thompson's possession.
Thompson was sentenced to a 12-month prison term for the first two charges, and to four months for sending the racist abuse. The sentences will run concurrently.
He must also sign the sex offenders register.