The father of missing Allan Bryant Jr has called for tougher punishments for online trolls.
Allan Bryant said that the courts needed to do more to punish those who issue online threats and insults in order to dissuade others.
The Glenrothes man’s words come ahead of his appearance in a television documentary on Thursday evening.
Mr Bryant’s family have been repeatedly targeted by trolls as they continue their search for Allan Jr, who disappeared nearly four years ago.
“The courts need to do more to stop this,” said Mr Bryant.
“We can’t have this ruining peoples lives.
“We’ve experienced a lot of heartache and it is something that really needs to be clamped down on.
“I would say that if it happened to anybody else then they should report it to the police and not try to interact with these people.”
Allan Jr was 23 when he disappeared after a night out with friends on November 3 2013.
He had been at Styx Nightclub on Caskieberran Road, with CCTV footage showing him leaving the venue in the early hours of the morning.
Despite high-profile police appeals and searches, there remains no trace of Allan Jr, who would now be 27.
Having utilised Facebook to keep their son’s disappearance in the public eye, Mr Bryant and his family have been on the receiving end of online abuse on several occasions, with one man, Stewart McInroy, having been jailed in 2014 for claiming he had taken the missing man hostage before killing him.
The Bryant family will be seen discussing their ordeal with former Saturdays singer and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Frankie Bridge as part of a new series to be screened on Channel 5.
Mr Bryant added: “It was a hard day but Frankie was really nice to speak to.
“She did the interview with us and really settled into the house.
“I think it took about five hours in total and the people who have made the programme have said that it was quite emotional.”
The series “Celebrity Trolls: We’re Coming to Get You”, begins on Thursday at 10pm on Channel 5.
