Lucy Connolly, Councillor's Wife, Jailed 31 Months for Inciting Racial Hatred Online

Oct 17, 2024, 02:34 PM

Lucy Connolly, 41, the wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly from West Northamptonshire Council, has been sentenced to 31 months in prison for inciting racial hatred. The childminder from Northampton admitted to posting a tweet to her 10,000 followers calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire, referring to them as "boat invaders". The tweet, which was later deleted, was posted on the day of the Southport attacks in July, during which three children were murdered. Birmingham Crown Court heard that Connolly later joked in a WhatsApp message on August 5 that the tweet had "bitten me on the arse, lol", and bragged about "playing the mental health card" over the race hate post. Connolly will serve at least a year in prison before being eligible for release on licence.