Latest news with #SouthportMassacre
Telegraph
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Lucy Connolly poses no risk to anyone – let her go!
Lucy Connolly should be at home today. Snuggling up with her daughter on the sofa, reassuring the distraught 12-year-old, 'It's OK, Mummy's here now'; reclaiming her kitchen, making dinner for Ray who has stoically held the fort for 10 months but badly misses his wife's steak, egg and chips. Times are really hard for the Connollys. So why isn't the 42-year-old Northampton childminder back where she belongs after a 10-month ordeal that began back in July when she posted a horrible tweet on the night of the Southport massacre? The official explanation is that, on Thursday, after several hours of dense legal argument the Court of Appeal decided that it couldn't reach a decision that day and would instead offer a written judgment 'as soon as possible', even though the three judges had all the documentary evidence they needed to make a decision there and then. And further delay meant another weekend in prison for Lucy. The unofficial explanation was offered by Ray Connolly, who was sitting on the bench next to me in court seven when we heard the devastating news that his wife would not be let out. 'It's terrible, but it's not surprising,' Ray sighed. 'Every time with Lucy there's a delay or some reason why they won't let her have things. Other girls who have done far worse than her, drug dealers, violent women, they get bail, they get let out early, they get ROTL (Release on Temporary Licence) because they need to pay their mortgage or whatever, but Lucy doesn't even get ROTL to be with our daughter.' Ray, a Conservative county councillor who narrowly lost his seat in the Reform Local Election tsunami, has got used to the fact that the woman he clearly adores became the poster girl for Sir Keir Starmer's crackdown on 'far-Right thuggery' during last summer's riots. To show mercy to Lucy Connolly now would be in some way to admit that the Prime Minister was mistaken and the sentences doled out to protestors were, in many cases, outrageously harsh. Although he was expecting bad news, Ray visibly flinched and reached for my arm when, at around 4.45pm, Lord Justice Holroyde said he knew that the lack of a decision would be 'disappointing' to Mrs Connolly. Just a bit disappointing, Your Lordship. On her 279th day in captivity, Lucy appeared in court via video-link from HMP Drake Hall in Staffordshire. She wore a floral dress, her brown, shoulder-length hair was nicely blow-dried; she was trying to look as presentable as a weary jailbird could. Ray told me Lucy had been physically sick with nerves the night before, but she presented herself impeccably, giving thoughtful, intelligent answers to her barrister, Adam King KC (a godsend paid for by the Free Speech Union). She managed to stay calm even when the barrister for the Crown goaded her, saying she was a racist who wanted immigrants to die. While she made no attempt to avoid culpability or downplay her 'disgusting' tweet, Lucy otherwise held her ground, saying that anyone who was human was incredibly upset about the slaughter of three little girls at a Taylor Swift dance club. Her concern, she insisted, was with undocumented young male migrants coming to our country who, yes, did pose a risk to children and women. 'Any time people speak out about immigration you're always 'racist'. It's not racist. I just ignore it now,' she said staunchly. I wanted to cheer in that hushed mausoleum of a courtroom. The system has tried to make Lucy Connolly a sacrificial lamb, but she won't go meekly to the slaughter. The only time she broke down was when her two children were mentioned. Holly, who will become a teenager in July, was so angry she was being a 'monster' at school, Lucy said, starting to cry. Her decision to plead guilty (a disaster, as it turned out) was so she could be reunited sooner with her previously good-natured, high-achieving daughter. Harry, the Connollys' firstborn, a gorgeous, sunny little boy, died in 2011 aged 19 months following catastrophic failures by the NHS. Lucy and Ray awoke to find Harry's stiff, lifeless body next to them; Lucy was later diagnosed with PTSD. Ever since, reports of children suffering or dying have sent her into a dark spiral, as they did on July 29 when she tweeted in her rage and her anguish about the horror Axel Rudukabana had unleashed on a roomful of infants. Amazingly, the barrister for the Crown made very little on Thursday of the irrecoverable impact of Harry's tragic death. 'If you've never lost a child, you can't have known what the [Southport victims'] parents were going through. I did,' Lucy told me. 'Mrs Connolly has never trusted authority since Harry's death,' her barrister said, and there she was at the Royal Courts of Justice getting another taste of why 'impartial' authority could not be trusted to do the right or decent thing. I can't tell you how angry I got in that courtroom. No common sense, no kindness, no forgiveness, no mercy. What a chasm there is between the magnificently-appointed, wood-panelled legal bubble in which those clever men argued back and forth and the real world where the majority of people simply can't believe that one horrible tweet, posted in the heat of the moment and deleted within four hours, gets a woman of previous good character 31 months in jail! If it wasn't for the fact that it would have made things worse for Lucy, I was tempted to stand up and shout at the three elderly judges on their exalted perch, 'WHAT THE HELL'S WRONG WITH YOU? LUCY POSES NO RISK TO ANYONE – LET HER GO!' The disproportionate, nay, vindictive treatment of Lucy Connolly is fast adding to popular fears about two-tier Keir and a two-tier justice system in which white people seem to them to fare worse than ethnic minorities. (Judge Melbourne Inman, who lectured Lucy Connolly about our diverse and inclusive society before giving her that crazy sentence, was altogether more lenient with a defendant who had posed with a deactivated AK-47 in a video threatening Tommy Robinson, had 11 previous convictions and had been previously jailed for 12 months!) Is it really an exaggeration to call Lucy a political prisoner in a week when the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to release prisoners early to free up prison spaces that could involve letting free recalled sex offenders and domestic abusers? I don't think so. Robert Jenrick, Mahmood's Tory shadow, weighed in on Julia Hartley-Brewer's talk show, asking how could it be right for Lucy to go to prison for such a long time for a single offensive tweet, which she quickly deleted, when 'dangerous people' like a man who had just escaped jail 'despite it being found that he had 12,000 pornographic images on his computer', including a one-year-old being raped? 'I think that offends most people's sense of fairness,' Mr Jenrick said. It certainly does. Even in legal circles there is disquiet. 'It's the most appalling and unfair case,' a senior magistrate told me at a recent lunch. 'I would be looking for any reasons to avoid giving someone like Lucy a custodial sentence.' A veteran observer of the criminal justice system draws comparisons: 'I've seen a litany of cases in recent years where a liberal judiciary pats itself on the back for giving truly terrible people the benefit of the doubt and the shortest possible sentences. There is no doubt in my mind that Lucy Connolly was made a scapegoat. She was not even connected with any violence. The fact that, nearly a year later, Appeal Court judges are not accepting the woman needs to get out and be with her innocent young daughter, who is sustaining potentially long-term damage, well, it's unconscionable.' It is unconscionable that people whom we look to for wisdom, and to apply the law fairly, behave in this flagrantly biased way. 'Modern judges are weak,' explains a famous barrister. 'When we protected them from politics they were amazing. Now, too many are low-grade politicians. To get appointed and to advance their careers they must demonstrate a 'commitment to equality and diversity'. This is how they all got captured – by pursuing self-interest.' Such woolly, smug liberalism seems increasingly and woefully out of step with the country that the judiciary presides over. Immigration now dominates the headlines, with the vast majority saying they don't want more than 100,000 new arrivals a year. Lucy Connolly's 'bigoted' concerns about migrants posing a threat to children and women are common parlance. Even Sir Keir is suddenly accessing his inner Enoch Powell, warning there's a risk of becoming strangers in our own land. By the PM's own lights, surely that makes him a 'far-Right thug'? If I had to nominate one person who was responsible for the rioting after the Southport mass murder, it wouldn't be Mrs Connolly for a single tweet, it would be Keir Starmer for depriving the public of information about the radicalised killer. Outside the Royal Courts of Justice, members of the Free Speech Union held a protest, carrying a banner that said: 'Police Our Streets Not Tweets.' The FSU is campaigning to have certain laws repealed so this kind of travesty never happens in future. We should hope that one lasting legacy of the Lucy Connolly case will be a rebalancing of the criminal justice system away from insanely unjust punishment for social media posts in favour of a tough approach to those who actually cause physical harm. As the August deadline for her release approaches, prison authorities have outrageously warned Lucy that she should not expect to go straight home. Due to 'media interest', they'd rather put her in Approved Premises with key workers first. 'What you have to understand, Allison,' an eminent lawyer told me yesterday, 'is the reason they don't want to free Lucy Connolly is because their worst nightmare is you sitting down for a face-to-face interview with Lucy and everyone realising she's not the racist witch it suited them to paint her as, just a really lovely person.' You know, I think the public has already decided whose side they're on. Just after those three Appeal Court judges cruelly declined to make a decision, a crowd-funder was set up to help Lucy Connolly rebuild her shattered life – whenever, that is, the injustice system deigns to give Lucy her freedom back. The total raised in under 24 hours stood at an amazing £24,000. You can help Lucy – and tell Sir Keir what you think about his two-tier justice – by donating too.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Tory councillor's wife 'had no idea what she was admitting' when she pleaded guilty to online rant about migrants in wake of Southport attack
A former childminder who was jailed after posting an online rant about migrants the day of the Southport massacre said she had no idea what she was admitting to. Lucy Connolly was jailed in October after making sickening comments on X, just hours after homegrown killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls and attempted to murder 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29. The atrocity sparked nationwide unrest, with several people - including Connolly - jailed as a result. In anger, she had tweeted to her 9,000 followers: '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.' It was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before Connolly 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. Connolly deleted her post and blamed it on 'a moment of extreme outrage and emotion' when she was acting on 'false and malicious' information But she was told she would have to wait for a decision on whether her appeal was successful. Lord Justice Holroyde said: 'Normally we try to give judgment a short time after the hearing. We cannot do it in this case. 'We need some time to reflect on all we've heard.' Speaking after the hearing, her husband Raymond Connolly told the Mail: 'I was hoping to get a decision today, but we didn't. 'But I'm used to that. All of Lucy's previous hearings and decisions have been delayed right the way through.' Connolly appeared via videolink from HMP Drake Hall in Stafford for the 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. Around 20 of Connolly's supporters outside the Court of Appeal today 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. She said: 'In a moment of extreme outrage and emotion, I posted words that I realise were wrong in every way. 'I am someone who cares enormously about children, and the similarity between those beautiful children who were so brutally attacked and my own daughter overwhelmed me with horror but I should not have expressed that horror in the way that I did. 'This has been a valuable lesson for me, in realising how wrong and inaccurate things appearing on social media can be, and I will never ever react in this way again.' But police subsequently discovered other posts on her phone containing racist remarks. She had also sent a tweet commenting on a sword attack, which read: 'I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.' She told the Court of Appeal she pleaded guilty because she agreed she was responsible for writing the tweet, but said 'it was never my intention to stir up racial hatred'. She said her solicitor Mr Muir advised her not to go to a basis-of-plea hearing with the judge setting out her reasons for admitting guilt and giving her the opportunity to dispute elements of the prosecution case. She said Mr Muir told her it 'wasn't worth the risk'. She said she did not understand the wording on the indictment and that her only motivation was to be reunited with her family, including her daughter. Mr King asked: 'Was it made clear to you that what Mr Muir was saying to the prosecution was that you would concede you were intending to incite serious violence?' Connolly replied: 'No.' Mr King asked: 'Would you accept being sentenced on the basis of attempting to incite serious violence?' Connolly replied: 'No, never. He (Mr Muir) said it was always going to be a custodial sentence and this was just damage limitation.' She said the first time she realised she was being sentenced for intending to incite serious violence was 'when the judge started to sum up.' Mr Muir told the court he had explained everything to her, including about the basis-of-plea hearing, and showed her sentencing guidelines setting out how she could expect to be punished. He said: 'She wasn't saying: "I definitely did this." 'She didn't want to challenge it and risk losing her credit. I wanted her to be clear of the ramifications.' Mr King, for Connolly, put it to Mr Muir that he had 'never discussed with her the fact that you would be accepting on her behalf an intent to incite serious violence'. Mr Muir replied: 'I did, on more than one occasion.' He said he had no doubts whatsoever about her understanding of the situation. A small crowd of Connolly's supporters - including her husband, local Tory politician Raymond Connolly - were present in court for the day-long hearing. They had gathered outside the court before the hearing, holding a large banner which read: 'Police our streets not our tweets'. Those present inclided Lord Toby Young, founder of the Free Speech Union, journalist Allison Pearson, who was briefly investigated by police last year over a social media post about the Hamas-Israel conflict, and Dan Wootton, and former GB News presenter Dan Wootton. Her husband was a Tory West Northamptonshire councillor who served as vice chair of the authority's adult social care committee. He lost his seat earlier this month, but remains on the smaller Northampton Town Council. Reflecting briefly on the impact of jail on Connolly's daughter, her lawyer Mr King said: 'A 12-year-old without your mother for something like a whole year when you're 12 years old is an enormous detriment.' Sentencing Connolly last year, the Recorder of Birmingham, Judge Melbourne Inman KC, said Connolly was 'well aware how volatile the situation was', adding that she had encouraged activity which threatened or endangered life. He added: 'Sadly this is one of a number of cases that this court has had to deal with arising from civil unrest following the very tragic events in Southport on July 29 2024. 'As everyone is aware, some people used that tragedy as an opportunity to sow division and hatred, often using social media, leading to a number of towns and cities being disfigured by mindless and racist violence, intimidation and damage which has been summarised by the prosecution today. 'It is (a) strength of our society that it is both diverse and inclusive. 'There is always a very small minority of people who will seek an excuse to use violence and disorder causing injury, damage, loss and fear to wholly innocent members of the public and sentences for those who incite racial hatred and disharmony in our society are intended to both punish and deter.'
Daily Mail
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The real reason Sarah Michelle Gellar turned down I Know What You Did Last Summer remake revealed
Sony released the first trailer for its highly-anticipated I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel on Tuesday, which introduces both new characters and brings back a few familiar faces. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprise their roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson from the 1997 original and the 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. This new film focuses on a new group of teenagers (Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer King, Tyriq Withers and Sarah Pidgeon), who are taunted by a vicious stalker who somehow knows a deadly secret from their past. They ultimately get some advice from two survivors of the 1997 Southport Massacre - Julie and Ray - though it seems director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) tried to bring another original cast member back: Sarah Michelle Gellar. Gellar, 48, played Helen Shivers in the original, though she has consistently said she will not be in this project, despite being good friends with Robinson, starring in her 2022 film Do Revenge, and being married to Prinze Jr. since 2002. The reason is a simple one: Helen Shivers was killed in the first film, but, as Robinson told Entertainment Weekly, that didn't stop her from trying. 'I tried, okay? I harassed her! But she is dead. I tried to pitch some crazy s--- too,' Robinson joked. 'I was like, "What if it's like you weren't dead and you're actually alive, but in hiding?'" the director recalled. 'And Sarah's like, "I was on ice. I was the most dead a person could be. You can see my frozen body,"' Robinson recalled. 'I was like, "Yeah, but what if?" And she said, "I am dead. I am Sarah Dead Gellar,"' Robinson joked. A photo of her Helen character is seen at the trailer resting on her gravestone, though it seems that will be all fans will see of that character. Back in February 2023, when Gellar was accepting the SCAD TVFest Icon Award in Atlanta, she revealed Robinson was already trying to pitch her. 'As I explained to Jennifer, I am dead. I am dead dead. On ice,' Gellar joked of her character's fate, who was found alongside Ryan Phillippe's Barry in the icebox by Julie in the original film. Gellar added, 'She's like, "Are you sure you're dead dead?" I'm like, "It's soap dish dead. I don't have a head. You can't write for someone that doesn't have a head. I'm dead."' She was asked again about returning to the franchise in October 2024, though she teased a new role, of sorts, in the franchise. 'My best friend [Jennifer Kaytin Robinson] is directing it, so we joke that I have an unofficial job, which is I am continuity,' Gellar explained. 'So I'm always the one telling her, "Well, that would happen, or that wouldn't happen with those characters," so I do have kind of an unofficial job title,' she added. I Know What You Did Last Summer will hit theaters nationwide on July 18.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'I Know What You Did Last Summer' sequel trailer: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr return in revamped summer horror saga
Sony Pictures has unveiled the suspense-filled first trailer for the upcoming sequel to 'I Know What You Did Last Summer', reviving the fan-favourite horror franchise with a blend of fresh faces and original cast members. The film is set to hit theatres on July 18. Unveiled on official social media handles, following an early sneak peek at CinemaCon last month, the trailer reintroduces the eerie coastal town of Southport, the backdrop for the franchise's infamous murders, and teases new secrets, old grudges, and a chilling sense of deja vu. The sequel is directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Lansky, based on a draft by Leah McKendrick, as per The Hollywood Reporter. Returning from the original creative team is Neal Moritz, producer of the 1997 cult hit. This latest instalment stars Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, Jonah Hauer-King, and Chase Sui Wonders, alongside legacy stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr , reprising their roles from the original film and its 1998 follow-up, 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.' The new storyline centres on a group of five friends who make a pact to remain silent after a devastating car accident. But their shared secret begins to unravel when their paths cross with two survivors of the original Southport Massacre , hinting at a sinister pattern of violence in the quiet seaside town. "This isn't the first time there's been violence like this in Southport," warns Prinze Jr's character in the trailer, suggesting the town's deadly history is far from buried. In another moment, Hewitt's character offers a cryptic challenge, "I just have one question... What did you do last summer?" The original 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' debuted in 1997, based on the novel by Lois Duncan and penned by Scream writer Kevin Williamson. It followed a group of teens being hunted by a mysterious killer with a hook, after they attempted to conceal a fatal accident. The franchise quickly gained a cult following, blending teen drama with slasher thrills. Though not officially attached to the new project, singer and actress Brandy, who co-starred in the first two films, expressed interest in returning. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter last year, she said, "I need them to give me a call because I survived in that movie! I came out in the end, bloodied up, ready to go." Jennifer Garner's Love Life Struggles With Ben's Shadow; John Miller Looks Out For A Therapist?
Express Tribune
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Watch: Trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel out now – franchise returns after 19 years
Sony has unveiled the trailer for the highly anticipated sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer, set to hit theaters on July 18. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the film revives the beloved horror franchise that began with the 1997 film of the same name. The trailer was first showcased at CinemaCon and released online this week. The sequel stars Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, Jonah Hauer-King, and Chase Sui Wonders, with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprising their iconic roles as Julie James and Ray Bronson. The plot follows a group of five friends who are haunted by the consequences of a pact to cover up their involvement in a tragic car accident. The group reconnects with two survivors from the infamous 1997 Southport Massacre, as they find themselves in a dangerous situation once again. Freddie Prinze Jr.'s character hints at the recurrence of violence in Southport, saying, "This isn't the first time there's been violence like this in Southport," while Jennifer Love Hewitt's character appears to investigate the cause, questioning, "What did you do last summer?" The script was co-written by Robinson and Sam Lansky, based on an initial draft by Leah McKendrick. Neal Moritz, who produced the original film, returns to produce the new movie. The first film, released in 1997, became a horror classic, starring Hewitt, Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe, and was based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan. While Sarah Michelle Gellar was approached to return as Helen Shivers, she declined due to the difficulty of retconning her character's death. Principal photography for the sequel began in November 2024, with cinematographer Elisha Christian. I Know What You Did Last Summer fans can look forward to the chilling return of their favorite characters this July.
