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The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lucy Connolly to speak out for first time since being released from prison
Lucy Connolly, who was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers online on the day of the Southport murders, is expected to speak out on Friday for the first time since being released from prison. The 42-year-old, wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, left HMP Peterborough on Thursday morning and it is understood she will be doing limited media interviews a day after walking free. She spent time with her husband, daughter and parents on the day of her release and was pictured walking her dogs in the evening, the Daily Mail reported. Ms Connolly was handed a 31-month sentence after she posted on X: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.' She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year. The former childminder, from Northampton, was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence. It is understood that Ms Connolly was a passenger in a white taxi which left HMP Peterborough via the vehicle airlock, a set of two gates exiting the prison, shortly after 10am on Thursday. Her case has sparked debate, with some criticising her sentence as excessive. Reacting to her release, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Connolly's sentence was 'harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting'. In a post on X, Ms Badenoch compared Ms Connolly's case with that of Ricky Jones, a suspended Labour councillor who was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder at an anti-racism rally in the wake of the Southport murders. Writing on X, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Juries are a cornerstone of justice, but we shouldn't have to rely on them to protect basic freedoms. 'Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety. If the law does this, then the law itself is broken – and it's time Parliament looked again at the Public Order Act.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Ms Connolly's case as a 'symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain'. A bid to challenge her sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, which was described by Mr Connolly as 'shocking and unfair'. The Northampton town councillor, and former West Northamptonshire district councillor, said his wife had 'paid a very high price for making a mistake'. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year. He was asked in May about Ms Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed. Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, Sir Keir said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. 'I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. 'But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' Ms Connolly was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages which included further racist remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. The post was viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before she deleted it.
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Teenager who planned mosque attack in Scotland detained for 10 years
A teenager who listed Hitler, Mussolini and the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik as his inspirations and who planned a terrorist attack on a mosque has been sentenced to 10 years in custody. The 17-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, had intended to set fire to an Islamic centre in Greenock, Inverclyde, after befriending the imam and mapping out the building's interior on his phone. The teenager was arrested at the door of the centre in January this year. He was carrying a military-style rucksack that contained a German-manufactured Glock-type air pistol, ammunition, ball bearings, gas cartridges and aerosol cans, according to prosecutors. He was sentenced at the high court in Glasgow on Thursday after pleading guilty to two terrorism charges, with a further eight years of supervision on licence upon release. In his sentencing statement, Lord Arthurson said: 'What you had in mind was what can properly be characterised as a quite diabolical atrocity involving extreme violence and multiple deaths. You even requested that your attack be livestreamed. Your conduct was only stopped by your arrest, when you were quite literally at the very door of the centre.' Prosecutors said the teenager, who became radicalised online, began plotting the attack in December 2024 and joined the mosque's WhatsApp group saying he was 'looking for guidance', later winning the trust of the imam during several visits. Meanwhile he was boasting of his plans to set the centre on fire on the social media platform Telegram and later filmed himself wandering the corridors, including footage showing him superimposing a hand carrying a semi-automatic pistol. Sineidin Corrins, deputy procurator fiscal for specialist casework at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: 'This heinous plan to attack those within his own local community was prepared and driven by racial and religiously motivated hatred, and showed that he not only held neo-Nazi beliefs but was about to act on them to cause pain and suffering'.
Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Veteran rider, 76, died after falling off his horse while trail hunting just hours after laying scent for event, inquest hears
A riding enthusiast died after falling from his horse just hours after laying a scent for a hunting event, an inquest heard. Guy Avis, 76, died while taking part in a Heythrop Hunt trail hunt with 90 other riders when his horse refused to jump a fence. He had been a lifelong member of the event, where he was known as the 'singing secretary'. Gloucestershire Coroners' Court heard Mr Avis, who also performed with Giffords Circus, had been riding his horse Jasper. The inquest was told Mr Avis fell forward over the horse's head after Jasper did not jump the fence. Mr Avis, of Dean, Chipping Norton, landed headfirst on the ground and died from a fractured cervical spine. Roland Wooderson, area coroner for Gloucestershire, reached a conclusion of accidental death on Thursday. The coroner said: 'It is clear from the evidence that on November 2 2024, at the farm in question, Mr Avis died as a result of injuries sustained when he fell from his horse. 'I accept the medical cause of death as 1a fractured cervical spine and 1b horse riding accident. 'On that information, on the balance of probability, the appropriate conclusion is one of accidental death.' In a statement read to the court, Hannah Goffe said Mr Avis had been taking part in a Heythrop Hunt event. Mrs Goffe described overhearing someone saying there had been an accident at about 2pm. 'I ran towards the jump and I saw Guy lying on the floor,' Mrs Goffe, who had known Mr Avis for 30 years, said. 'Guy was unresponsive and I started CPR. I was aware that someone was on the phone to 999.' Pathologist Dr Terry Jones reported how Mr Avis had been riding his horse when it refused a jump. The inquest heard paramedics were told Mr Avis was seen to fall forward and land headfirst on the ground. He was found on the floor by friends and received medical attention before his death was confirmed at 2.50pm. In a report, health and safety officer Beth Pritchard told how Mr Avis was a volunteer with the hunt. 'He was an experienced horse rider and was riding his own horse, Jasper, using his own tack,' she said. Her report described how Mr Avis had laid a trail earlier that day but was riding as a hunt participant when he died. In November last year, Giffords Circus said it was 'so saddened' to hear of Mr Avis's death. The travelling circus posted an image of Mr Avis taking part in the 2019 show, Xanadu. It said: 'We are so saddened to hear of the passing of Guy Avis. 'Guy worked with Giffords Circus over the years in many forms, here he is in 2019 in Xanadu while working alongside Nell in the ring. 'Our condolences to all his family and friends. With love from all at Giffords Circus.' In a post at the time, The British Hound Sports Association said: 'We are saddened to hear of the sudden loss while hunting yesterday of Guy Avis, known as 'the Singing Secretary' of the Heythrop. A post he held for 28 years. 'He had hunted for over 60 years. Condolences to family and friends.'
