Latest news with #TORY
The Irish Sun
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish 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. three girls were knifed to death in Southport, Merseyside. Advertisement 4 Lucy Connolly urged rioters to set migrant hotels alight 4 The childminder published the comments on her X account Credit: 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. Advertisement 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 Cardiff and raised Christian. Riots erupted across the country as thugs clashed with police and targeted hotels housing asylum seekers. Advertisement Most read in The Sun 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. Advertisement 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." Advertisement 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. Advertisement Read more on the Irish Sun "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 Connolly was jailed for 31 months last October Credit: PA 4 Raymond Connolly defended his wife Credit: PA Advertisement
Scottish Sun
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Tory councillor's wife will STAY in jail for urging rioters to ‘set fire to migrant hotels' after appeal thrown out
RIOT SHAME 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. Lucy Connolly posted the sick comments on her X account just hours after three girls were knifed to death in Southport, Merseyside. Advertisement 4 Lucy Connolly urged rioters to set migrant hotels alight 4 The childminder published the comments on her X account Credit: 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 sentence but this was today thrown out by Court of Appeal judges. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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." Advertisement 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. Advertisement "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 Connolly was jailed for 31 months last October Credit: PA 4 Raymond Connolly defended his wife Credit: PA
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MP urges Government to 'step up' and hold 'full inquiry' into grooming gangs
A TORY MP has urged the Government to 'step up' and hold a 'full inquiry' into grooming gangs in the Bradford district. In January, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said there would be 'victim-centred, locally-led inquiries' in five areas, including Oldham in Greater Manchester - but the other locations are yet to be announced. Addressing the Government in the House of Commons yesterday, Robbie Moore, Conservative MP for Keighley and Ilkley, complained that 'no real progress whatsoever has been made on their promise to launch five local rape gang inquiries before Easter'. He added: 'It gets worse: for more than five years, leaders at the very top of Bradford Council in my constituency have denied, refused and covered up, every single time I and victims, survivors and their families have called for a full rape gang inquiry across Keighley and the wider Bradford district. 'When will this Government step up, use their statutory powers and give the victims and survivors in areas such as Keighley and the wider Bradford district the full inquiry that they have wanted for almost two decades?' Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips said local authorities would be able to access a £5 million national fund to 'support locally-led work on grooming gangs'. She added: 'Following feedback from local authorities, the fund will adopt a flexible approach to support both full independent local inquiries and more bespoke work, including local victims' panels or locally-led audits of the handling of historical cases.' Mr Moore said: 'Bradford's leadership simply will not act by itself, so why are this Government letting the very Councils that failed victims decide whether they want to be investigated?' Ms Phillips said: 'Absolutely nothing that I have said today suggests that Bradford would not be able to access funding from the Home Office, just as Oldham has, to undertake the work that might be needed there.' Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: 'We're very clear: child sexual exploitation (CSE) is an appalling crime that blights victims' lives. Perpetrators face the full force of the law. No matter who you are or when the crime took place, you will be prosecuted. 'We're very open about how we tackle CSE. 'We have published more than 50 reports in recent years, including to cross-party committees, where councillors have asked questions and discussed CSE. 'These committees are open to the public and the media to attend. 'An independently authored review into historic CSE cases in the Bradford district between 2001 and 2021 has been published. 'We also referred ourselves to the national inquiry into CSE chaired by Dame Alexis Jay. 'All our data was shared with the inquiry, and we provided evidence to this as well as hosting the Truth Project which invited victims from Bradford to come forward in confidence to tell their story. 'We have worked as a partnership to implement the reviews' findings along with national best practice so we can better protect children. 'The new Government is taking swift action to implement the findings of the national inquiry into CSE, which Bradford took part in. 'This was an inquiry completed in 2022 which took seven years and cost over £185 million. 'The last Government never implemented any of its recommendations. 'This new focus from a fresh Government on actions, not just words, is welcome. 'In the latest statement the Government talks about funding meaningful work beyond inquiries and reports and that's what we need here in Bradford and within West Yorkshire. 'We've done reports, published them and worked to implement the findings. 'If there's more money available that we can spend on practical programmes and actions that further protect our children, we'd welcome that, rather than paying someone to write another report.'
