How long Lucy Connolly could face in jail after pleading guilty for an X post on day of Southport stabbings
The wife of a Tory councillor admitted to publishing a social media post stirring up racial hatred following the Southport stabbings.
Lucy Connolly, 41, appeared at Northampton Crown Court via video link to HMP Peterborough on Monday where she pleaded guilty to publishing abusive material.
Connolly is due to be sentenced next month, with a judge warning her she faces a “substantial” custodial sentence.
On the day of a knife attack in Southport Connolly posted on X: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f*****g hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.”
False information claiming that the attacker was an asylum seeker spread across social media after the attack prompting riots across the UK.
The maximum sentence for incitement to racial hatred is seven years and the official sentencing guidelines say the most serious cases usually lead to two and six years in jail.
The sentencing judge will need to go through a complex exercise to decide Connolly’s level of “culpability” come October’s hearing in Birmingham.
If the judge concludes that Connolly intended to incite serious violence then Connolly would be in the highest category of offenders marking a starting point of three years.
Then the judge will consider the “harm” done by her message to “set fire” to hotels and if the judge concludes it endangered lives then this would elevate the seriousness of the crime.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that Connolly posted racist messages months before the day of the Southport stabbings which is also likely to be a key factor.
The sentence the judge provisionally has in mind will then be reduced to take into account Connolly’s admission.
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It is important to note that Tyler Kay, 26, received a 38-month sentence after reposting Connolly’s words, however, Kay pleaded guilty as soon as he could, thereby receiving the maximum one-third discount.
In contrast, Connolly did not plead guilty at her first hearing and was the original author of the tweet, therefore, it is hard to see how she could receive a shorter sentence than Kay.
Nevertheless, she could have exceptional consequences that when presented by her lawyer require a degree of judicial mercy.
Speaking outside the court on Monday her husband, Raymond Connolly, said he was “relieved” it was over as it had been “traumatic” for his wife and three children.
The Conservative West Northamptonshire councillor said his wife got dragged into the situation by misinformation spreading online.
He said: “The stuff I hear is not really Lucy, she’s probably the opposite of what she’s having to admit to but she knows she’s overstepped the mark and there’s consequences for it.”
So far more than 1,100 people have been arrested with hundreds charged following riots that erupted across the country following the Southport stabbings.
In Rotherham, South Yorkshire, a group of rioters tried to set fire to a Holiday Inn Express which was believed to be housing asylum seekers.
Other towns and cities across the UK including Liverpool, Plymouth and Birmingham also saw widespread violence and people were arrested for theft to antisocial behaviour.