A childminder married to a Conservative councillor has been jailed after calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire after the Southport attacks.
Lucy Connolly, 41, received a 31-month prison sentence after calling for “mass deportation now” in a social media post to her 10,000 followers on X on the day three children were killed in a knife attack in Southport.
In the expletive-ridden message she said “set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care” and concluded “if that makes me racist so be it”.
The post was later deleted but police established it was available for at least three and a half hours.
In September, she pleaded guilty to writing a social media post intending to stir up racial hatred and was sentenced at Birmingham crown court on Thursday.
Judge Melbourne Inman KC said Connolly was “well aware of how volatile the situation was” at the time of the Southport attack, volatility that led to serious disorder in a number of areas.
“Your message was widely read – it was viewed 310,000 times with 940 reposts, 58 quotes and 113 bookmarks,” he said.
“Whilst I accept you regret your actions … it is clear from the evidence of your own words in the days following your actions, what you said to the police and what you said to the probation officer that you have little insight into, or acceptance of, your actions.”
The court heard that the day before Connolly was arrested, she sent a WhatsApp message saying the “raging tweet about burning down hotels has bit me on the arse lol”.
She also said she would “play the mental health card” if arrested, and would deny responsibility for the post if asked.
Naeem Valli, prosecuting, said Connolly, who has no previous conviction, also sent a message saying she intended to work her notice period as a childminder “on the sly” despite being deregistered.
She also sent another tweet commenting on a sword attack that read: “I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.”
Tom Muir, defending, said: “Whatever her intention was in posting the offending tweet, it was short-lived, and she didn’t expect the violence that followed, and she quickly tried to quell it.”
Connolly is married to Raymond Connolly, a Conservative councillor for West Northamptonshire council, who watched from the public gallery as his wife was sentenced.
He had previously told reporters he would not resign over the matter, adding that it had been “quite traumatic for Lucy and the children”.
Connolly was ordered to serve 40% of her 31-month sentence in prison before being released on licence.
Her sentence was handed down on the same day that a Staffordshire man, convicted of rioting in connection with post-Southport unrest, was jailed for six years and 17 weeks.
Simon Orr, 39, of Tamworth, was sentenced at Stafford crown court on Thursday, after pleading guilty to charges of riot and assaulting a female police officer, police said.
Orr, who was the third defendant in England to admit a charge of riot in connection with disorder around the country, also sent a WhatsApp message encouraging others to turn up during an attack on a hotel in Tamworth on 4 August.
The police said: “Orr was arrested on 12 August and originally denied his involvement, saying the protest was peaceful.
“We secured the evidence to charge him for violent disorder and later consulted with the CPS over upgrading the offence to riot – unlawful violence – public order, the most serious of the Public Order Act 1986.
“In September, we became the second force in the UK to secure riot charges against two people, including Orr.
“Alongside his sentencing today, we also reached a milestone of making 150 arrests in connection with both disorders in Stoke-on-Trent and Tamworth. More will be coming.”
As part of Orr’s sentence, he was also given a 10-year community behaviour order.
