The wife of a British conservative councillor who posted on social media that immigrants should face mass deportation and be set on fire has learned her fate.
Lucy Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor in West Northhamptonshire, England, was sentenced to a year in prison for posted the inflammatory comment on X the same day three young girls were murdered in a Southport knife attack. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, misinformation about the perpetrator falsely suggested he was an illegal immigrant, leading to nationwide protests and riots.
Connolly's tweet, seen by 310,000 people, was determined by the presiding Judge Melbourne Inman as "intended to incite serious violence." The full tweet is documented in the sentencing remarks.
"Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the bastards for all I care, while you're at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist so be it," Connolly wrote.
Connolly was arrested on Aug. 6, by which point she had deleted the X account the tweet was posted from. Police were nonetheless able to uncover other racist tweets by Connolly, including a response to a tweet about a sword attack, "I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders," BBC reported. She also responded to a far right activist's post, "Somalian I guess," followed by a vomiting emoji.
Also uncovered were WhatsApp messages from Connolly. The day before her arrest she sent "...raging tweet about burning down hotels has bit me on the arse lol." Another message revealed her plan to "play the mental health card," if arrested.
Her lawyer, Liam Muir, told the court that Connolly lost a son in a "horrendous way." He claimed her circumstances "can only have a drastic detrimental effect on someone," in his defense of "whatever her intention was" when she posted the violent rhetoric.
"Sentences for those who incite racial hatred and disharmony in our society," Judge Inman said, "Are intended to both punish and deter."
The judge noted that Connolly, a 41-year-old nanny and mother, had no prior convictions as he sentenced her to 31 months, 40% of which will be served in prison and the remainder on probation.
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