Latest news with #racialhatred
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
White House says it's 'monitoring' Lucy Connolly's case after her bid to be freed from prison over a 'racist' Tweet was quashed
The White House is 'monitoring' the case of Lucy Connolly after her bid to be freed from prison over a tweet which 'stirred up racial hatred' was refused. Connolly was jailed for 31 months after she posted an online rant about migrants hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls in Southport on July 29 last year. The former childminder, who is the wife of Conservative councillor Ray Connolly, deleted the post after four hours but was arrested last August and pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred in October. Last week her appeal against her sentence was refused by three Court of Appeal judges meaning she faces serving another eight months behind bars. In the wake of that decision, US officials have said they are keeping tabs on the developments in Connolly's case over their 'concerns' about free speech in Britain. A State Department spokesman said: 'We can confirm that we are monitoring this matter. 'The United States supports freedom of expression at home and abroad, and remains concerned about infringements on freedom of expression.' It comes after MailOnline reported last week that Connolly's case had been raised with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. US officials have said they are keeping tabs on the developments in Connolly's case over 'concerns' they hold about free speech in Britain - it comes after it was raised with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (pictured) Political commentator and Trump ally Charlie Kirk was made aware of Connolly's ordeal after a visit to the UK and vowed to get the US State Department involved in the process. Appearing on GB News, Kirk said: 'I am going to try and get the US State Department involved. I'm going to bring this up to Marco Rubio. I'm going to send him a text.' Kirk had been in the UK for a debate at the Oxford Union on Monday when the case of Mrs Connolly was raised. 'As of today, Lucy Connolly is going to jail for two-and-a-half years in this country for a social media post that she apologised for and deleted… That is not a free speech battle at all', he said during the debate. 'You should be allowed to say outrageous things. You should be allowed to say contrarian things. Free speech is a birthright that you gave us, and you guys decided not to codify it and now it's – poof! – it is basically gone.' Connolly had appealed against her sentence at the Royal Courts of Justice, describing how news of the Southport murders had triggered her anxiety caused when her baby son, Harry, died as the result of a hospital blunder 13 years earlier. Her tweet, viewed 310,000 times before she deleted it three-and-a-half hours later, read: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I that makes me racist so be it.' There was serious violent unrest across Britain following the Southport murders. After Connolly's appeal was dismissed on Tuesday, her husband said: '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".' Mr Connolly said his wife's incarceration at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire – nine months so far - had been 'very hard, particularly on our 12-year-old girl'. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Britain was 'losing its reputation for free speech' over people being arrested by police 'simply for something we say'. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick asked: 'How on earth can you spend longer in prison for a tweet than violent crime?' 'Shoplifters with hundreds of prior convictions have avoided prison, a domestic abuser with 52 prior offences got off with just a suspended sentence, as did a paedophile with 110,000 indecent images of children.' And Toby Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, asked '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?' He said: 'Lucy should be at home with her 12-year-old daughter and husband, not rotting in jail.' It is expected that she will not be released before she has completed two fifths of her sentence, which will be in August.
Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
White House pressures Starmer over Lucy Connolly case
Connolly expressed her outrage on social media platform X hours after Axel Rudakubana murdered three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport. She posted: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while you're at it, take the treacherous government politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.' Connolly deleted the post less than four hours later, but by then it had been viewed 310,000 times. She was arrested on Aug 6 following widespread riots across the country over the stabbing attack, and later jailed for 31 months. Connolly, who has no previous convictions, also sent another tweet commenting on a sword attack, which read: 'I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.' Last week, the Court of Appeal judges said they did not accept that the original sentence for inciting racial hatred was 'manifestly excessive'. The judges also said they did not accept that Connolly had entered her guilty plea without fully understanding what it entailed. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said: 'In recent months, shoplifters with hundreds of prior convictions have avoided prison. A domestic abuser with 52 prior offences got off with just a suspended sentence, as did a paedophile with 110,000 indecent images of children. 'And yet Lucy Connolly has received a 31-month prison sentence for an appalling – albeit hastily deleted – message on social media. How on earth can you spend longer in prison for a tweet than violent crime? This crazy disparity will only fuel perception that we have a two-tier justice system where the law is enforced selectively.' Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader and an ally of Mr Trump, said: 'Our American Republican friends seem to care more about free speech in the United Kingdom than our own Government.' 'The North Korea of the North Sea' Lord Young, the general secretary of the Free Speech Union, which helped fund Connolly's appeal, said: 'This is the third national humiliation in a week under Sir Keir Starmer's premiership. Has it really come to this? That the US government now has to monitor human rights abuses in the United Kingdom? 'Britain is rapidly becoming the North Korea of the North Sea.' Sir Keir has been forced to defend Britain's record of free speech in recent months, which has become a point of tension with Trump administration officials. During his meeting in the Oval Office in February, the Prime Minister claimed there had been free speech 'for a very, very long time in the UK, and it will last for a very, very long time… Certainly we wouldn't want to reach across US citizens, and we don't, and that's absolutely right. But in relation to free speech in the UK, I'm very proud of our history there,' he said. In a speech at the Munich security conference in February, JD Vance, the US vice-president, cited British pro-life campaigner Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted for breaching a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic, suggesting 'free speech in Britain and across Europe was in retreat'. No case has raised concerns in Washington more than the prosecution of Livia Tossici-Bolt, an anti-abortion campaigner whose case threatened to jeopardise Sir Keir's trade deal with the United States. The 64-year-old praised the Trump administration for its support after she was handed a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £20,026 in costs for breaching a buffer zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth. Her case alarmed leaders within the US state department, which made the highly unusual step of warning Sir Keir that it was 'monitoring' developments closely. At the time, a source familiar with trade negotiations insisted Ms Tossici-Bolt's arrest was being considered amid Britain's attempt to win an exemption from US tariffs, saying 'no free trade without free speech'.
Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Lucy Connolly appeal judge cut sentence of paedophile Labour peer
One of the judges who refused Lucy Connolly's appeal previously reduced the sentence of a former Labour peer convicted of child sex offences. Connolly, a childminder who is married to a Conservative councillor, received a 31-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to inciting racial hatred with a tweet posted in the wake of the Southport murders. This week, Lord Justice Holroyde, alongside Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon, rejected her bid to have her sentence reduced at the Court of Appeal. The court found that the judge in Connolly's case had followed the sentencing guidelines correctly, she was aware of what those guidelines were when she pleaded guilty, and her sentence had not been manifestly excessive. Previously, Lord Justice Holroyde presided over the appeal hearing of Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, a former Labour peer, after he was convicted of trying to rape a young girl and sexually assaulting a boy under nine in the 1970s. He was jailed for five years and six months at Sheffield Crown Court in February 2022. But in March 2023, his sentence was reduced to two years and six months by Lord Justice Holroyde, Lord Burnett, the then Lord Chief Justice, and Lord Justice William Davis after they concluded the sentencing judge had not followed the sentencing guidelines. The three concluded that the trial judge in Lord Ahmed's case 'fell into error' when passing sentence. They said the fact that Lord Ahmed was a child when he committed the offences had to be taken into account. During his original trial, the court heard he had attempted to rape a girl on two occasions when he was aged about 16 or 17 and she was much younger. The attack on the boy also happened during the same period. Both incidents took place in Rotherham. Lord Ahmed was found guilty of two counts of attempted rape against the girl and a serious sexual assault against the boy. He had originally been given two years for each of the attempted rapes, to run concurrently, with a further three years and six months for assaulting the boy. The judges said had he been sentenced shortly after the assault on the boy, he would have been 14 and a child with no previous convictions. They concluded a custodial sentence of six months was a 'suitable penalty'. They did not reduce the sentence imposed in relation to the attempted rapes. Connolly, 42, was jailed after she posted a message on social media platform X hours after Axel Rudakubana went on a knife rampage at a Taylor-Swift themed event in Southport, murdering three little girls. She posted: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while you're at it, take the treacherous government politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.' Connolly, who lost her son Harry when he was 19 months old and cares for her sick husband, deleted the post less than four hours later – but not before it had been viewed 310,000 times. She later posted another message condemning the riots, writing: 'FS, I get they're angry. I'm f---ing raging, however, this is playing right into their hands. I do not want civil unrest on our streets. Tommy Robinson is not going to say but this is not going to get anyone anywhere. Protests yes but not riots.' She was arrested on Aug 6 following widespread riots across the country. The Court of Appeal judges refused to reduce her sentence this week, saying the tweet represented 'an incitement to serious violence'. They did not accept that the original 31-month sentence was 'manifestly excessive'. They also said they did not accept the argument that the offending tweet had been 'no more than an expression of emotion'. The ruling concluded: '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.' Since the ruling there has been a widespread backlash against the decision, with Sir Richard Dearlove, a former MI6 chief, becoming the latest high-profile figure to voice concerns. Sir Richard said it was an 'extraordinary case' and he did not believe Connolly should still be in prison. Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, has said the jailing of Connolly showed Britain was becoming 'a police state' under Sir Keir Starmer. Sir Keir defended the sentence given to Connolly shortly after it emerged that her appeal had been rejected. He said that while he was 'strongly in favour' of free speech, he was 'equally against incitement to violence against other people'.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- The Independent
Man, 58, denies inviting support for Hamas
A man has denied inviting support for proscribed terrorist group Hamas. Dylan Evans, of Hove, East Sussex, is charged under the Terrorism Act with one count of inviting support for the proscribed organisation on October 27 2023. Evans, 58, is self-represented and pleaded not guilty to the charge at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday. He also pleaded not guilty to two counts of distributing written material to stir up racial hatred. It is alleged that on October 12 and October 13 2023 he 'distributed written material which was threatening, abusive or insulting' intending 'to stir up racial hatred' or being reckless as to whether that would happen. Evans, who was wearing sunglasses on his head and a T-shirt, told the court he had been arrested on May 23 2024. He was given conditional bail and will appear at the Old Bailey on June 6.
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
First Labour MP calls for mother jailed over Southport tweet to be freed
A Labour MP has become the first in her party to call for a mother jailed for a tweet about the Southport attacks to be freed. Mary Glindon said the 31-month prison sentence handed to Lucy Connolly was 'unduly harsh', and that she did not pose a threat to the public. Connolly, a former childminder, was jailed in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. She lost an appeal earlier this week. Last July, Connolly posted on X hours after Axel Rudakubana murdered three girls in a knife rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport. She posted: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f---ing hotels full of the b------s for all I care, while you're at it, take the treacherous government politicians with them. I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.' Connolly deleted the post, which was viewed 310,000 times, less than four hours later. She was arrested on Aug 6 in the wake of nationwide riots. Ms Glindon, the MP for Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend, has broken ranks with Sir Keir Starmer by signing an early day motion (EDM) drafted by Rupert Lowe, the former Reform UK MP who is now sitting as an independent. The motion 'notes with concern' Connolly's continued imprisonment and calls for prison space to be 'prioritised for dangerous and violent offenders, not young mothers like Lucy Connolly'. Ms Glindon said: 'I simply signed the EDM because I was very upset that Lucy had lost her appeal, and that her young daughter would be without her mother for a longer period. 'In my opinion, Lucy doesn't pose a threat to the public. She seems to be paying a heavy price for what she did.' Ms Glindon said that 'Lucy's impetuous tweet was not only unthinkable but vile in content', before adding: 'Lucy has experienced the pain of losing a child and could be forgiven for a sudden, otherwise unthinkable reaction – one she quickly corrected. 'The judge has been unduly harsh. I can't imagine how this will impact her young daughter. My heart bleeds for her.' Earlier this week, Sir Keir defended the sentence given to Connolly shortly after it emerged that her appeal had been rejected. Asked by Mr Lowe whether Connolly's jailing was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, the Prime Minister said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts, and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country.' Sir Keir added that while he was 'strongly in favour' of free speech, he was '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,' he said. Ray Connolly, Lucy's husband, said he was 'heartbroken' that his wife's appeal had not been upheld and claimed the system had sought to make an example of her. Connolly's lawyers had argued that she had not fully understood what she was pleading guilty to. They also accused the original judge of failing to give enough weight to various mitigating factors, including the welfare of her 12-year-old daughter. A Nigerian GP whose daughter was looked after by Connolly has dismissed the suggestion that she is racist, describing her as the 'kindest British person I know'. Dr Hene Enyi said Connolly had gone out of her way to help with her family's application for British citizenship, even providing character references. Dr Enyi said: 'Lucy is simply the loveliest, kindest British person I know. My mum and dad in Nigeria know all about her because I speak about her all the time. 'She was so good to us when we arrived here from Nigeria. She loved my daughter like her own child. We used to joke,'How do you make any money as a childminder?' because she was always buying gifts for the children. 'As well as my daughter, she looked after children from Bangladesh and Pakistan. This is not a racist person who has anything against people from different races. 'She was so kind when we needed a character reference for our citizenship and went out of her way to help us, even driving to our home to drop off the letters we needed.'
