Wife of Tory councillor jailed for stirring racial hatred after Southport attack

A childminder, who is married to a Conservative council member, has been sentenced to prison for urging that hotels accommodating asylum seekers should be burned down following the attacks in Southport.

Lucy Connolly, 41, was sentenced to 31 months in prison after she urged for immediate mass deportation in a social media post directed to her 10,000 followers on X. This occurred on the same day that three children lost their lives in a knife attack in Southport.

In her message filled with curse words, she expressed, "I don't care if they burn down every single hotel packed with those people," and finished by saying, "If that makes me a racist, then so be it."

The post was eventually removed, but authorities confirmed that it was accessible for a minimum of three and a half hours.

In September, she admitted to guilt for creating a social media post designed to incite racial animosity and was sentenced on Thursday at Birmingham Crown Court.

Judge Melbourne Inman KC stated that Connolly fully understood the unstable nature of the situation during the Southport attack, a volatility that resulted in significant unrest in various locations.

"Your message gained significant attention – it was seen 310,000 times, shared 940 times, quoted 58 times, and saved 113 times," he mentioned.

"Even though I understand that you feel sorry for what you did, it's evident from what you've said in the days after your actions, as well as what you told the police and the probation officer, that you don't really grasp or acknowledge the gravity of your behavior."

The court was informed that the day before Connolly's arrest, she sent a WhatsApp message in which she mentioned that her "angry tweet about setting hotels on fire has come back to haunt me, lol."

She also mentioned that if she got arrested, she would use her mental health situation as a defense and would refuse to take responsibility for the post if questioned about it.

Naeem Valli, the prosecutor, mentioned that Connolly, who has never been convicted before, also communicated her plan to secretly continue working as a childminder during her notice period, even though she had been deregistered.

She also posted another tweet regarding a sword attack, stating: "I’m willing to wager my house that one of those boat invaders was involved."

Tom Muir, who represented her, stated: “No matter what her intentions were when she posted the controversial tweet, it didn't last long. She didn't foresee the violence that ensued, and she made efforts to address it quickly.”

Connolly is wed to Raymond Connolly, a Conservative council member for the West Northamptonshire council, who observed from the audience as his wife received her sentence.

He had earlier informed journalists that he wouldn’t step down because of the issue, mentioning that it had been “very distressing for Lucy and the kids.”

Connolly was instructed to spend 40% of her 31-month sentence behind bars before she could be released on probation.

She received her sentence on the same day a man from Staffordshire was sentenced to six years and 17 weeks for his involvement in rioting that followed the unrest in Southport.

Simon Orr, 39, from Tamworth, was sentenced on Thursday at Stafford Crown Court after admitting to charges of participating in a riot and assaulting a female police officer, according to police reports.

Orr, the third person in England to plead guilty to a riot charge related to disturbances across the nation, also shared a WhatsApp message urging others to join in during an incident at a hotel in Tamworth on August 4.

According to the police, "Orr was taken into custody on August 12 and initially claimed he wasn’t involved, stating that the demonstration was nonviolent."

"We gathered enough proof to accuse him of violent disorder, and subsequently, we discussed with the Crown Prosecution Service about elevating the charge to riot, which involves unlawful violence and is considered the most severe offense under the Public Order Act of 1986."

In September, we became the second group in the UK to successfully bring riot charges against two individuals, one of whom is Orr.

"Today, in addition to the sentencing, we marked a significant achievement by making 150 arrests related to the disturbances in Stoke-on-Trent and Tamworth. We expect more arrests to follow."

Along with his sentence, Orr received a community behavior order that lasts for 10 years.