The wife of a Conservative councillor who was jailed for posting a racist tweet in the aftermath of the Southport attack has been released from prison after serving less than a year of her sentence.
Lucy Connolly, who was sentenced to 31 months in October 2024 for inciting racial hatred, was freed from HMP Peterborough on Wednesday morning, the Telegraph reported.
Connolly, married to Tory councillor Raymond Connolly, was prosecuted after posting on X just hours after three children were murdered in Southport by Axel Rudakubana.
Her post read:
“Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the ba***rds for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.”
The message, viewed more than 310,000 times before it was deleted after three-and-a-half hours, was deemed by prosecutors to be “threatening or abusive” material likely to stir up racial hatred.
She pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court and was handed a 31-month sentence — a punishment critics branded “disproportionate” and “two-tier justice”.
Her husband Raymond campaigned against what he called a “cruelly long” jail term, but Connolly’s appeal was dismissed in May.
Divided reaction
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the courts’ decision earlier this year, saying:
“I am strongly in favour of free speech… 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.”
However, critics have accused the PM of hypocrisy, pointing to his previous guidance as Director of Public Prosecutions which advised leniency where offensive posts were swiftly deleted and followed by genuine remorse.
Connolly’s early release comes just 11 months into her sentence. She was today reunited with her husband and their 12-year-old daughter.
Meanwhile, campaigners continue to highlight alleged inconsistencies in the treatment of free speech and online hate offences.
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