The wife of a Conservative councillor who was sentenced to two years in jail over a ‘racist’ tweet will be freed next month, a close friend has said.
Lucy Connolly was imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire after she pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred following last summer’s Southport riots.
But now a friend of the mother and former childminder has shared a post to X saying Connolly will be ‘with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand’ this time next month.
The pal, who describes herself as a ‘”conspiracy” blonde’, said: ‘Missed a call whilst working today and not spoke to her for 2 weeks now… *HOWEVER* Happy to say that this time next month Lucy will be with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand – And more importantly her family AT HOME.’
She concluded the post with, ‘What a year it’s been…’
Connolly was given a 31-month sentence in October after admitting to making her ‘racist’ post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The post, which she later deleted, said: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.’
News of Connolly’s scheduled release comes just two months after she lost an appeal to shorten her 31-month sentence.
It is believed she will be released on August 21.
A friend of the mother and former childminder has shared a post to X saying Connolly will be ‘with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand’ this time month
Lucy Connolly was imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire after she pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred following the Southport Riots last summer
The post, which she later deleted, said: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it’
Connolly had told the Court of Appeal in London she ‘never’ intended to incite violence and did not realise pleading guilty would mean she accepted she had. But her argument was rejected.
A number of public figures and politicians have spoken out since Connolly was handed her sentence claiming she is a victim of ‘two-tier justice’.
Connolly’s husband, Raymond, a former West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor, said on the day she lost her appeal: ‘Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she will release 40,000 prisoners, some of them dangerous men on tag.
‘Lucy has not been allowed out on tag and she has been denied leave to see our child who is struggling.
‘Today, the court had the opportunity to reduce her cruelly long and disproportionate sentence, but they refused. That feels like two-tier justice.
‘The British people know all this is not right. They have given an amazing £81,000 so far to Lucy’s crowd-funder. Despite today’s upsetting setback, Lucy gets courage from everyone’s kind support.’
Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor but lost his seat in May. He remains on the town council.
Lucy Connolly, of Northampton, was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account. But other messages which included other condemning remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone.
Lucy Connolly’s tweet was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before she deleted it
Connolly with her husband Ray Connolly, a local councillor who lost his seat in May following her conviction
Her X post was made just hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls and attempted to murder 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, sparking nationwide unrest.
The former childminder was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred.
The Southport atrocity sparked nationwide unrest, with several people – including Connolly – jailed as a result.
Her tweet was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before she deleted it.
She later pleaded guilty to distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred at Birmingham Crown Court and was sentenced to 31 months in prison in October.
But she told the Court of Appeal in May that she had no idea the full extent of what she was admitting, and that her solicitor Liam Muir had not properly explained what ‘inciting violence’ meant in the context of her tweet.
It was only when the judge was speaking at her sentencing hearing that it fully dawned on her, she said when applying to have her prison term reduced.
The case sparked international interest with the White House saying in May it was ‘monitoring’ Connolly’s case.
It came as US officials said they had ‘concerns’ about free speech in Britain.
The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.
