KIRKCALDY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO RACIST ABUSE AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
A man has pleaded guilty to racially abusing footballer Yannick Bolasie on social media and having child pornography on his phone.Kirk Thompson, aged 22 and from Ravenscraig, Kirkcaldy, appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court charged with possession of indecent images of children, permitting to be taken or making indecent images of children, and sending a racist message to the ex-Everton and Middlesbrough winger, who now plays in Turkey.
Thompson pleaded guilty to all three charges during the hearing on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Ronnie Hay stated that during a police search at Thompson's address in March this year, four indecent images and movies were found on his phone.
Two of these images were rated category A, considered the most severe, while the other two were labeled Category B.
An additional image with added text was reported as category C.
Police also discovered a racially offensive private message sent to Bolasie on Thompson’s phone.
Bolasie shared the message on social media, commenting: 'Something seriously wrong with people… keyboard warriors.
Still yet to meet a person who had this energy when they saw me.' Sheriff Alastair Brown described the message as 'thoroughly offensive' and 'reprehensible,' noting it was viewed by at least 35,000 people online.
The sheriff delayed sentencing until January 6 to allow further investigation of the length of the indecent movies found.
Thompson was released on bail under the Sexual Offences Act.
The article notes that the indecent images found included four movies, with the prosecutor emphasizing the severity of some images.
The case attracted significant social media attention, with the footballer Bolasie sharing the offensive message he received.
The court also expressed interest in Bolasie's reasoning for sharing the message before final sentencing.
