Wife of Conservative councillor jailed for 31 months for inciting racial hatred in foul-mouthed social media posts

17 October 2024, 15:17 | Updated: 17 October 2024, 16:15

Lucy Connolly, the wife of West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court for her role in the Southport riots.

Lucy Connolly has been jailed for 31 months for inciting racial hatred on X on the day of the Southport attacks.

The childminder called for "mass deportation" in the wake of a stabbing that killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

Connolly, 41, wrote on social media: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care…”

She continued: "If that makes me racist, so be it."

Passing sentence on Lucy Connolly, Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: "Some people used that tragedy as an opportunity to sow division and hatred, often using social media, leading to a number of towns and cities being disfigured."

Connolly's post on X inciting attacks on hotels had been viewed a staggering 310,000 times and came just days before far-right thugs attempted to burn down an asylum hotel while people were stuck inside.

The judge added: "When you published those words you were well aware how volatile the situation was.

"That volatility led to serious disorder where mindless violence was used."

In shocking details revealed in court, Connolly allegedly claimed she would "use the mental health card" if accused of fueling the violent far-right riots that swept across the UK this summer.

Prosecutor Naeem Valli said: "She then goes on to say that if she were to get arrested she would play the mental health card."

The 41-year-old backtracked on her comments after being exposed online.

“Acting on information that I now know to be false and malicious, and in a moment of extreme outrage and emotion, I posted words that I realise were wrong in every way," she said after the social media comments were exposed.

Ms Connolly, from Northamptonshire, added in the now-deleted tweet: "While you're at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them."

Several hotels housing asylum seekers became the target of far-right thugs in the wake of the Southport riots, with a growing number of armchair rioters handed jail terms for sending messages "inciting racial hatred".

Speaking after her guilty plea, Ms Connolly said: “I am someone who cares enormously about children and the similarity between those beautiful children who were so brutally attacked, and my own daughter, overwhelmed me with horror, but I should not have expressed that horror in the way that I did.

"This has been an invaluable lesson for me in realising how wrong and inaccurate things appearing on social media can be."