Latest news with #RaymondConnolly
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Tory councillor ‘heartbroken' wife lost bid to appeal hate tweet sentence
A Conservative councillor said he is 'heartbroken' that his wife's appeal bid against her 31-month sentence for inciting racial hatred has been dismissed at the Court of Appeal. Raymond Connolly said the court had shown Lucy Connolly 'no mercy', and she had paid a 'very high price' for her post on X, formerly Twitter, which followed the Southport attacks. Mrs Connolly was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year for the July 29 post that 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.' On Tuesday Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon refused her application to appeal. In a statement issued by a spokesperson, Mr Connolly said the decision to dismiss his wife Lucy's appeal was 'shocking and unfair'. He continued: 'The 284 days of separation have been very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl. 'Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport. 'She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours.' He added: 'My wife Lucy is a good person and not a racist. 'As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them. 'My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy. 'Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get. 'I think the system wanted to make an example of Lucy so other people would be scared to say things about immigration. This is not the British way.' Connolly's post on X came shortly after three girls were stabbed and killed at a holiday club in Southport on the same date, sparking nationwide unrest. It was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before Connolly deleted it. In a written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde, said: 'There is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive. 'The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused.' He added that the principle ground of appeal 'was substantially based on a version of events put forward by the applicant which we have rejected'. Giving evidence from HMP Drake Hall in Eccleshall in Staffordshire last week, Connolly said that when she initially wrote the post she was 'really angry, really upset' and 'distressed that those children had died' but did not intend to incite violence. The court in London heard that Connolly's son died tragically around 14-years-ago, and that news of the murders of the children in Southport had caused a resurgence of her anxiety around this. In his written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde continued: 'Here, we of course have every sympathy with the applicant over the death of her son, and we can understand why she remains angry about the circumstances of his death. 'We can therefore accept that the shocking events in Southport had an impact on her which went beyond that felt by many others. 'But as the judge rightly said, she did not post a message of support and sympathy to the victims of the Southport attack and the bereaved.' He added that she also did not direct her comments towards the Southport attacker, Axel Rudakubana, and instead chose 'to incite serious violence against large numbers of persons'. 'The applicant's personal history cannot significantly reduce her culpability for that serious offence,' Lord Justice Holroyde said. Connolly told the court that during discussions with her barrister at the crown court she did not understand that by pleading guilty she was accepting that she intended to incite violence. Lord Justice Holroyde said that in her evidence at the Court of Appeal, the judges found Connolly to be 'intelligent and articulate', and they were 'unable' to accept that she 'entered her guilty plea with no understanding of what it entailed'. Connolly, of Northampton, 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. Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor, but lost his seat in May. He remains on the town council. A statement on X, by the Free Speech Union (FSU), which funded Connolly's appeal bid, said: 'This is a deeply disappointing judgment. 'No one disputes the tweet was offensive but the sentence of more than two-and-a-half years was plainly disproportionate.' It continued: 'Two-and-a-half years for a single tweet is grossly disproportionate and it should trouble anyone who believes the law must be applied evenly, without fear or favour.'
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
'Lucy is not a far-right thug': 'Heartbroken' husband's fury after wife loses appeal against 31-month sentence for 'racist' Southport tweet
A Tory councillor has said he is 'heartbroken' after his wife's appeal bid against her 31-month sentence over a 'racist' tweet she sent in the wake of the Southport killings was dismissed by judges. Raymond Connolly's partner Lucy told the Court of Appeal she 'never' intended to incite violence and did not realise pleading guilty would mean she accepted that she had. But they rejected her argument. Today, he condemned her appeal being dismissed as 'shocking and unfair' – insisting his wife is 'not a right-wing thug'. Mr Connolly said: 'My wife Lucy is a good person and not a racist', adding: 'Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get. 'My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy'. Connolly, who is locked up at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire, had claimed to the Appeal Court last week that she had no idea what she was admitting to when she pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. But today three judges rejected her argument, meaning she faces serving another eight months behind bars. The former childminder was given a 31-month sentence last October after admitting making the 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.' The sickening comments were 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. Following her legal loss today, her husband Mr Connolly said: 'The 284 days of separation have been very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl. Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport. 'She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours. That did not mean Lucy was a ''far right thug'' as Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed. 'My wife Lucy is a good person and not a racist. As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them. My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy. 'Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get. I think the system wanted to make an example of Lucy so other people would be scared to say things about immigration. This is not the British way.' A statement on X by the Free Speech Union (FSU), which had funded Connolly's appeal bid, said: 'This is a deeply disappointing judgment. 'No one disputes the tweet was offensive but the sentence of more than two-and-a-half years was plainly disproportionate.' It continued: 'Two-and-a-half years for a single tweet is grossly disproportionate and it should trouble anyone who believes the law must be applied evenly, without fear or favour.' Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, added: 'This is terribly disappointing. How can it be right for Lucy to have been condemned to spend more than two-and-a-half years in jail for a single tweet when members of grooming gangs who plead guilty to the sexual exploitation of children get lower sentences? 'Lucy should be at home with her 12 year-old daughter and husband, not rotting in jail.' In a written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde, said: 'There is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive. 'The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused.' He added that the principal ground of appeal 'was substantially based on a version of events put forward by the applicant which we have rejected'. Connolly had argued she had been 'really angry' after the Southport attacks, but hours after posting the rant on X realised it was not an acceptable thing to say, so deleted it. No arguable basis for saying the sentence was manifestly excessive In his statement, Mr Connolly claimed his wife Lucy was the victim of 'two-tier justice'. He said: '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.' 'Lucy and me are so grateful to our fantastic legal team, led by Adam King. He added: 'We will continue to pursue every possible avenue to seek justice and to bring Lucy home to us.' At her appeal case, Adam King, representing Connolly, asked if she had intended for anyone to set fire to asylum hotels or 'murder any politicians'. She replied: 'Absolutely not.' Naeem Valli, for the prosecution, told the court the post was a reflection of her attitude towards immigrants. He added: 'At the time of creating the post, the applicant clearly intended the racial hatred would be stirred up and also intended to incite serious violence.' Earlier, he had asked Connolly if she believed the country was being 'invaded' by immigrants. She replied: 'I believe that we have a massive number of people in the country that are unchecked, coming into the country and I believe that is a national security risk.' She added that it would be 'absolutely incorrect' to say she did not want immigrants in the country. Connolly, of Northampton, 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 former childminder, who is married to Raymond Connolly, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court last October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. Axel Rudakubana, 18, whose horror attack on schoolgirls at a Taylor Swift dance class sickened the nation and led to widespread rioting Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor but lost his seat in May. He remains on the town council. Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon are expected to give their judgment on the appeal today. 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 last year. But she told the Court of Appeal in London 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. Indeed it was only when the judge was speaking at her sentencing hearing that it fully dawned on her, she said today when applying to have her prison term reduced. Lord Justice Holroyde and his fellow judges said in their ruling it was important not to lose sight of the fact Connolly 'had willingly pleaded guilty'. She had claimed her lawyer had not explained it properly, but the Appeal Court found he was 'a conscientious defence lawyer with a clear grasp of the relevant law, practice and procedure and a realistic appraisal of the issues in the case'. And the three judges were scathing about Connolly's claims. They said she was 'intelligent and articulate, with strong views ' but they found her evidence to be 'incredible'. They said any reference to a prison sentence, by her lawyer, 'must have caused her great anxiety', and therefore 'in those circumstances, we are quite unable to accept that she signed [the endorsement form] without any understanding'. They said the evidence showed she 'was well aware of what she was admitting'. The judges expressed sympathy for Connolly's personal circumstances – including over the death of her son - adding: 'We can therefore accept that the shocking events in Southport had an impact on her which went beyond that felt by many others. 'But as the [trial] judge rightly said, she did not post a message of support and sympathy to the victims of the Southport attack and the bereaved. 'Nor, we would add, did she post a message of hostility confined to the perpetrator of the Southport attack. She chose instead to incite serious violence against large numbers of persons. The applicant's personal history cannot significantly reduce her culpability for that serious offence. 'The sentence of 31 months' imprisonment imposed by the judge therefore remains as before.' Connolly appeared via videolink from HMP Drake Hall in Stafford for last week's hearing. Giving evidence, Connolly said she initially sent the offensive tweet after getting 'really angry and really upset' upon learning about the Southport massacre, and that children were among the victims. 'Distraught' Connolly said the death of her 19-month-old son in 2011 after a medical blunder had heightened her sensitivity to what happened last July. She told the Court of Appeal hearing: 'Those parents still have to live a life of grief. It sends me into a state of anxiety and I worry about my children. 'I already know how they feel (about child loss) and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.' She told her lawyer Adam King she then sent her tweet. But she said it was 'absolutely not' her intention for it to incite anyone to 'set fire to asylum hotels' or to 'murder any politicians'. She subsequently walked the dog and decided to delete the tweet. She told the court: 'By that point I had calmed myself down and I knew it was not an acceptable thing to say, I had time to gather myself and take it down.' She subsequently issued an apology, saying she was 'acting on information that I now know to be false and malicious'. Connolly was arrested a week after she posted the rant. Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor, but lost his seat in May.
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Wife of Tory councillor jailed over Southport post 'not racist' and 'loved' African and Asian heritage children she cared for, husband says as appeal quashed
The wife of a Conservative councillor has lost an appeal against her 31-month prison sentence for an online rant about migrants on the day of the Southport attacks. The judgment handed down by Lord Justice Holroyd at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday said there was "no arguable basis" that Lucy Connolly's original sentence was "manifestly excessive". "The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused," it said. In a statement, her husband Raymond Connolly, who lost his seat as a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor in May but remains on the town council, insisted his wife is "not a racist" and that she "loved" children from diverse backgrounds while she worked as a childminder. Lucy Connolly was arrested on 6 August 2024 after calling for "mass deportation now" in an X post on 29 July, which also said hotels housing asylum seekers should be set on fire. "If that makes me racist so be it," she wrote. The post was viewed 310,000 times in the three-and-a-half hours before Connolly deleted it. She was sentenced to 31 months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court last October, after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. She was ordered to serve 40% of the sentence in prison before being released on licence. Connolly shared her X post on the same day three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year. False information claiming the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker spread online, leading to riots and unrest in multiple locations across the UK. Axel Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years in January after pleading guilty to murdering Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar in Southport that day. Connolly, from Northampton, later apologised for acting on "false and malicious" information. Reacting to the appeal decision, her husband described it as "shocking and unfair", adding that Connolly is a "good person and not a racist". Southport murders resurfaced anxiety over son's death Connolly last week told judges she was "really angry, really upset" and "distressed that those children had died" when she shared her X post. She said via videolink from prison that her own son died tragically around 14 years ago and that news of the children's murders in Southport had caused a resurgence of grief-related anxiety. "Those parents still have to live a life of grief," she said. "It sends me into a state of anxiety and I worry about my children." But in his judgment on Tuesday, Lord Justice Holroyd said the principal ground of Connolly's appeal was "substantially based on a version of events put forward by [her]", which he and his colleagues Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon "rejected". He said: "We of course have every sympathy with the applicant over the death of her son, and we can understand why she remains angry about the circumstances of his death." The judge said he "therefore accepts" that the events in Southport "had an impact on her which went beyond that felt by many others", but: "As the judge rightly said, she did not post a message of support and sympathy to the victims of the Southport attack and the bereaved." Connolly also told the judges that, despite conversations with her legal team, she had not understood that by pleading guilty she was accepting that she intended to incite violence. When asked if she intended for anybody to set asylum hotels on fire, Connolly said: "Absolutely not." But Lord Justice Holroyd said he found her to be "intelligent and articulate", and was therefore "unable" to accept that she "entered her guilty plea with no understanding of what it entailed". Defendant 'took care of children of African heritage' In a statement released shortly after the judgment on Tuesday, Mr Connolly insisted that his wife is "not a racist". "As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them," he said. "My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy. Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get." He said he believes the "system wanted to make an example" of his wife to ensure they were "scared to say things about immigration". "This is not the British way," he said. He added: "The 284 days of separation have been very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl. "Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport. She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours. That did not mean Lucy was a 'far right thug' as Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed."
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Lucy Connolly: Wife of former Tory councillor to stay in prison over Southport post
The wife of a former Conservative councillor has lost an appeal against her 31-month prison sentence for an online rant about migrants on the day of the Southport attacks. The judgment handed down by Lord Justice Holroyd at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday said there was "no arguable basis" that Lucy Connolly's original sentence was "manifestly excessive". "The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused," it said. Connolly, whose husband Raymond Connolly was a Tory West Northamptonshire councillor until he lost his seat in May, was arrested on 6 August 2024 after calling for "mass deportation now" in an X post on 29 July, which also said hotels housing asylum seekers should be set on fire. "If that makes me racist so be it," she wrote. The post was viewed 310,000 times in the three-and-a-half hours before Connolly deleted it. She was sentenced to 31 months in prison at Birmingham Crown Court last October, after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. She was ordered to serve 40% of the sentence in prison before being released on licence. Connolly shared her X post on the same day three young girls were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last year. False information claiming the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker spread online, leading to riots and unrest in multiple locations across the UK. Axel Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 52 years in January after pleading guilty to murdering Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar in Southport that day. Connolly, from Northampton, later apologised for acting on "false and malicious" information. Reacting to the appeal decision, her husband described it as "shocking and unfair", adding that Connolly is a "good person and not a racist". Southport murders resurfaced anxiety over son's death Connolly last week told judges she was "really angry, really upset" and "distressed that those children had died" when she shared her X post. She said via videolink from prison that her own son died tragically around 14 years ago and that news of the children's murders in Southport had caused a resurgence of grief-related anxiety. "Those parents still have to live a life of grief," she said. "It sends me into a state of anxiety and I worry about my children." But in his judgment on Tuesday, Lord Justice Holroyd said the principal ground of Connolly's appeal was "substantially based on a version of events put forward by [her]", which he and his colleagues Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon "rejected". He said: "We of course have every sympathy with the applicant over the death of her son, and we can understand why she remains angry about the circumstances of his death." The judge said he "therefore accepts" that the events in Southport "had an impact on her which went beyond that felt by many others", but: "As the judge rightly said, she did not post a message of support and sympathy to the victims of the Southport attack and the bereaved." Connolly also told the judges that, despite conversations with her legal team, she had not understood that by pleading guilty she was accepting that she intended to incite violence. When asked if she intended for anybody to set asylum hotels on fire, Connolly said: "Absolutely not." But Lord Justice Holroyd said he found her to be "intelligent and articulate", and was therefore "unable" to accept that she "entered her guilty plea with no understanding of what it entailed". Defendant 'took care of children of African heritage' In a statement released shortly after the judgment on Tuesday, Mr Connolly insisted that his wife is "not a racist". "As a childminder she took care of small children of African and Asian heritage; they loved Lucy as she loved them," he said. "My wife has paid a very high price for making a mistake and today the court has shown her no mercy. Lucy got more time in jail for one tweet than some paedophiles and domestic abusers get." He said he believes the "system wanted to make an example" of his wife to ensure they were "scared to say things about immigration". "This is not the British way," he said. He added: "The 284 days of separation have been very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl. "Lucy posted one nasty tweet when she was upset and angry about three little girls who were brutally murdered in Southport. She realised the tweet was wrong and deleted it within four hours. That did not mean Lucy was a 'far right thug' as Prime Minister Keir Starmer claimed."
The Sun
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Tory councillor's wife will STAY in jail for urging rioters to ‘set fire to migrant hotels' after appeal thrown out
A TORY councillor's wife will stay in jail after urging rioters to set fire to migrant hotels in a social media rant. 4 4 The 41-year-old childminder wrote: "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." She was jailed for 31 months in October after admitting publishing threatening or abusive material intending to stir up racial hatred. Connolly launched bid against her "harsh" sentence but this was today thrown out by Court of Appeal judges. They ruled "there is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive". Connolly shared a call to arms following the deaths of Bebe King, six, nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, in Southport on July 29. Posts wrongly claimed monster Axel Rudakubana was a Muslim asylum seeker when he was actually born in Cardiff and raised Christian. Riots erupted across the country as thugs clashed with police and targeted hotels housing asylum seekers. After her post, Connolly sent a WhatsApp joking it had "bitten me on the a**e, lol". She also said if she were to get arrested over it, she would "play the mental health card". Connolly is married to Raymond Connolly, who is Conservative vice chair of the committee on adult social care at West Northamptonshire Council. He defended his wife after she pleaded guilty - saying the case had been "traumatic" for her and their three children. Mr Connolly revealed their son died in 2012 after a series of NHS blunders so when his wife sees any child get harmed, "she will kick off". The councillor also branded Connolly "an upset housewife" and "just a middle aged mother" who got dragged into the situation by misinformation spreading online. He added: "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," he said. "Hopefully she'll be able to learn from this and move on with her life." Connolly also tried to make a U-turn on her vile comments - claiming she was acting on "false and malicious" information. But the Crown Prosecution Service said she told police she did not like immigrants in her custody interview. Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism unit, said: 'During police interview Lucy Connolly stated she had strong views on immigration, told officers she did not like immigrants and claimed that children were not safe from them. "It is not an offence to have strong or differing political views, but it is an offence to incite racial hatred – and that is what Connolly has admitted doing. "The prosecution case included evidence which showed that racist tweets were sent out from Mrs Connolly's X account both in the weeks and months before the Southport attacks – as well as in the days after. "Connolly wrongly thought that she could escape justice by hiding behind a screen, but today she has pleaded guilty and admitted her crime. She will now face the consequences of her actions." 4 4
