Yannick Bolasie: Man jailed for racist online abuse against former Everton and Middlesbrough winger | Football news

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A man who sent racist slurs at former Crystal Palace winger Yannick Bolasie, and later turned out to have child abuse images on his phone, has been jailed.

Kirk Thompson was sentenced to a year in prison at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court in Fife on Thursday by Sheriff Alastair Brown, who said the 22-year-old was at risk of significant harm.

Thompson, from Ravenscraig to Kirkcaldy, was exposed on social media by the 32-year-old Congolese international, who shared a screenshot of the racial insult sent to him in a direct message in March from the last year.

Bolasie, who now plays in Turkey for Caykur Rizespor, called his attacker a “keyboard warrior” and a rat.

Image: Bolasie was on loan at Middlesbrough at the time

Sheriff Brown told Thompson his actions were deliberate and contributed to what he described as a trend towards sending abuse online and a toxic environment.

He said: “The court is aware that those who hold prominent positions in public regularly receive abusive texts and are disparaged online by those whose only qualification to do so is to be able to turn on a cell phone.”

He said the words used were meant to “diminish the individual” and told him: “The courts will always take abuse of this type very seriously.”

At the time, Bolasie was loaned to Middlesbrough by Everton.

When Bolasie saw the post, he shared it and, accompanied by a rat emoji, he wrote, “Something is really wrong with people… keyboard warriors.

“I still haven’t met a person who had that energy when they saw me.”

Image: Bolasie exposed the man who sent racial slurs

Thompson pleaded guilty to three counts: possession of indecent pictures of children, permit to be caught or fabricating indecent pictures of children and sending a racist message.

During a police search on his phone last March, four indecent images and films were discovered.

Two were classified as Category A, considered the most serious, and two as Category B. Another image found with text added was reported as Category C.

Sheriff Brown judged the injury to be significant, despite the small number of images found in Thompson’s possession.

Thompson was sentenced to 12 months in jail for the first two counts and four months for sending racist abuse. The sentences will be executed simultaneously. He must also sign the sex offender register.

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