Wife of Ex-Tory Councillor in Court Over ‘Hate’ Tweet – With Top Tories Backing Her Bid for Freedom.
A CHILDCARE worker banged up for a furious online rant after the Southport holiday club bloodbath is making a last-ditch bid for freedom this week, backed by big-name Tories.
Lucy Connolly, wife of a former Conservative councillor, was caged for more than two-and-a-half years over a post on X (formerly Twitter) that exploded online just hours after three young girls were stabbed to death in a horror attack.
Connolly, who was sentenced in October 2024, is appealing the 31-month term at the Court of Appeal – with the help of the Free Speech Union (FSU) – claiming the sentence was wildly over the top.
SIGN OUR PETITION TO BRING LUCY HOME AT: https://petitionplatform.co.uk/petition/305
The mum, who worked as a childminder, unleashed her fury just after killer Axel Rudakubana’s rampage shocked the nation. Her explosive post read:
“Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f**** hotels full of the b******* for all I care, while you’re at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them.”**
She added:
“I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.”
The post was taken down within four hours, but not before it had racked up over 310,000 views.
Police swooped just days later. Connolly was charged with inciting racial hatred and held behind bars throughout her case – before pleading guilty.
At sentencing, Judge Melbourne Inman KC said she’d “encouraged activity which threatened or endangered life” and knew “how volatile the situation was”.
But critics say the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman slammed the sentence as “excessive” and said Connolly was a victim of “a politicised two-tier justice system”.
Ex-PM Liz Truss also tore into the decision, saying:
“Lucy Connolly should be released immediately and reunited with her family. The severity of her sentence is completely unjustifiable and a shocking example of two-tier justice which now prevails in Britain.”
Shockingly, her time behind bars is longer than some who took part in the Southport riots themselves. Philip Prescott, who joined a mosque attack during the chaos, was handed just 28 months – despite a judge saying his crime was “clearly racially or religiously motivated”.
Now Connolly’s lawyers are fighting back, arguing the judge failed to properly weigh up her grief-stricken mental state, following the death of her toddler son due to hospital blunders. They also say she has no criminal record and deleted the post quickly.
But her battle hasn’t stopped at sentencing.
Although she’s been eligible for temporary release since November, she’s been denied any time at home – even as others walk free.
Her legal team cited her husband’s poor health and her daughter’s spiralling school attendance. But internal prison messages suggest it’s all about publicity.
One note read: “It is not necessarily going to happen due to the public interest.” Another: “The media interest has been raised as an issue in terms of any future ROTL applications.”
She’s also been refused early release under a home curfew scheme – even as other inmates with more serious convictions, including two drivers jailed for killing people, got the green light.
Former prison boss Ian Acheson branded the block “deeply concerning”. He said:
“It can’t be right that someone who is otherwise eligible is not being considered because of either the prison’s failure to properly risk assess or her ‘notoriety’.”
“Many more risky individuals are walking free,” he added.
The FSU says Connolly’s case proves justice should be driven by law, not headlines – and they’ll be at the Royal Courts of Justice when her appeal is heard later this week.
