A man has admitted sending a “cowardly” tweet to the Plaid Cymru leader, Leanne Wood, expressing the wish that she should be shot.
Wood saw the message, posted just two weeks after the shooting of the Labour MP Jo Cox, while watching television at home.
Swansea magistrates court was told that Ross Hookings, 27, tweeted: “Shame someone didn’t shoot Leanne Wood though.”
Hookings, from Port Talbot, south Wales, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Malicious Communications Act and was given a 12-month community order and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
According to a probation report, Hookings tweeted the message in response to comments Wood made about Port Talbot steelworks during a television debate.
Defending, Matthew Murphy said Hookings did not intend Wood to see the tweet but accepted it was in the public domain.
District Judge Neale Thomas described the abuse as “cowardly”. He said Hookings was not a young man and should have known better.
