A MAN from Royal Wootton Bassett has been jailed after sending violent threats to police officers over social media.

Nicholas Bray, aged 22, of Lime Kiln, appeared at Swindon Magistrates Court today (January 8) and pleaded guilty to one count of malicious communications.

PC Liam Currant, from Royal Wootton Bassett community policing team, said: “Bray is a repeat offender who has made violent threats to our police officers a number of times over the years.

“In today’s current climate, these types of threats, no matter whether or not the offender has genuine intentions to carry them out, have to be taken seriously.

“These threats make for uncomfortable reading at a time when police officers routinely find themselves under attack and subjected to violence.”

He was jailed for ten months.

It follows a private message that Bray sent to the Swindon North Police Facebook page that threatened to stab the next police officer he saw and set fire to their car with them in it.

The message added that he would try to kill any police officer who tried to arrest him.

Bray has previous convictions for making similar threats to Wiltshire Police over social media.