Northampton dad-of-three Tyler Kay jailed for three years for 'burn hotels' online post
Sarah Cooper heard Tyler Kay give evidence at Northampton Crown Court
A father-of-three been jailed for 38 months for stirring up racial hatred by using social media to call for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set alight.
Tyler Kay appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Friday having pleaded guilty at the town's magistrates court on Thursday.
He tweeted on Wednesday: "Mass deportations now, set fire to all the f***ing hotels full of the b******s for all I care... If that makes me racist, so be it".
Kay also reposted a screenshot of another message inciting action against a named immigration solicitors in Northampton.
He went on to respond to several comments posted by others following his post, adding that it was "100% the plan."
Kay becomes the latest person jailed in connection with the widespread disorder that has swept the UK in the past 10 days.
Sentencing Kay, Judge Adrienne Lucking described his comments as “utterly repulsive, racist and shocking posts that have no place in a civilised society”.
Earlier, Kay had tried to deny he intended to stir up racial hatred with his posts - a claim the judge rejected.
"You are an intelligent, articulate and media savvy person. You were evasive about your interest in the topics on social media and your awareness of the surrounding events.
"The nature of the posts are self-evident. You posted as you did because you thought there were no consequences to yourself from stirring up racial hatred in others."
She said Kay's posts had to be seen in the wider context of the UK disorder, given his "keen interest in current events"
"The overall tone of the posts identified clearly reveals your fundamentally racist mindset," added the judge.
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.”
Det Ch Supt 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.”
The judge said Kay would serve half his sentence in custody and the rest of licence, with a warning he would be recalled to prison if he committed further offences.
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