UK Woman Jailed for Nearly Three Years for ‘Racist’ Anti-Migrant Social Media Comments
Lucy Connolly sentenced to 31 months for inciting racial hatred following false claims about a Muslim asylum seeker being involved in the tragic stabbing of three girls.
The wife of a council member of the United Kingdom’s conservative Tory political party has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for making what were described as ‘racist’ comments about migrants on social media following a stabbing incident that left three young children dead.
Lucy Connolly — who is married to Raymond Connolly, a West Northamptonshire councilor — was sentenced to 31 months on Thursday after pleading guilty to publishing written material stirring up racial hatred among the public, according to a report from Sky News.
Connolly posted the comments after three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, on July 29. Connolly wrote on the X platform, “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.”
The rant, which was viewed 310,000 times and reposted by 940 other users on X before she deleted it, was based upon false information that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker. Tensions and unrest were raised across England during a series of riots in the days after the mass stabbing.
The 41-year-old woman apologized later, saying that information was” false and malicious.” The judge presiding over her case at Birmingham Crown Court felt she was aware of the ramifications of her social media post.
“Some people used that tragedy as an opportunity to sow division and hatred, often using social media, leading to several towns and cities being disfigured,” Judge Melbourne Inman KC said of the stabbings. “When you published those words, you were well aware how volatile the situation was. That volatility led to serious disorder where mindless violence was used.”
During her hearing, it was revealed that Connolly sent a message on WhatsApp quipping that the post had “bit me on the arse, lol” and that she had posted another volatile comment on X after a sword attack saying, “I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.”
Ms. Connolly was ordered to serve at least 40 percent of her sentence before receiving paroled release.
