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Lucy Connolly: Councillor's wife jailed for inciting racial hatred on X after Southport murders released
Lucy Connolly served 10 months of a 31-month sentence for inciting racial hatred after a social media post viewed 310,000 times, highlighting legal debates on free speech limits.
- Lucy Connolly, married to Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, was sentenced to prison last October for inciting racial hatred on X following the Southport murders on July 29, 2024.
- She posted a tweet calling for 'Mass deportation now' and violence against asylum seekers the day the murders occurred, which she deleted after 310,000 views in three-and-a-half hours.
- Lucy Connolly admitted her guilt at Birmingham Crown Court to charges of publishing material considered threatening or abusive, receiving a 31-month prison sentence with a requirement to serve 40% of the term before eligibility for release on licence.
- Her appeal in May against the sentence was rejected, despite Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticizing it as being more severe than the penalties imposed for throwing bricks at police officers or participating in violent riots.
- Connolly served 10 months before release and her case sparked debate on free speech and incitement, with Prime Minister Starmer defending the independence of courts and the need to prevent violence.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Soaring 'Hate Speech' Convictions Spark Free Speech Fears in Britain
Prosecutions for stirring up “racial hatred” through social media posts have reached record levels in Britain, triggering calls for urgent reform of the law amid growing fears for freedom of expression. Ministry of Justice figures show a dramatic rise over the past decade. In 2015, just one person was convicted of the offence under the Public Order Act. By 2024, that number had surged to 44. Almost a third of all convictions in the past ten year…
Why Lucy Connolly fascinates the Trump administration
Donald Trump’s approach to governing can be summed up as “for thee and not for me”. He looks askance at the idea of American troops securing a peace in Ukraine, for instance. But naturally the tanks must roll into Washington, DC and the marines into Los Angeles. Militarism starts at home, in other words. Or note that Joe Biden is vilified as a corrupt politician in Washington while Trump’s family hoover up deals in foreign capitals. You can see …
Right-wing media scramble to make martyr out of Lucy Connolly
In an incredibly predictable turn of events, the right-wing press and media have scrambled to make a martyr out of Lucy Connolly after she was released from prison. On Thursday, Connolly, whose husband serves on Northampton Town Council, was released from HMP Peterborough after serving 40% of her 31-month prison sentence for inciting racial violence. In a post on X shared on 29 July last year, 42-year-old had called for “mass deportation now” an…
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