Childminder and wife of Northamptonshire Tory councillor arrested for inciting racial hatred

A childminder and wife of a councillor has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after appearing to encourage her social media followers to "set fire to" hotels housing asylum seekers.

Lucy Connolly, who is married to West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly, posted on social media site X on the day three girls were killed at a holiday club in Southport.

Writing under a now-deleted profile, @LJCJ83, she said: "Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f***ing hotels full of the b****** for all I care...

"I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure.

"If that makes me a racist, so be it."

Mrs Connolly, who was a Ofsted-registered childminder, later apologised for her comments, which she said she now realised had been based on "false and malicious" information.

She added: "In a moment of 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."

Following the deaths of Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, a series of riots have taken place across the UK.

And on Thursday, the prime minister warned social media companies over misinformation spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect, Axel Rudakubana, including false information about his name, and claims that he was an asylum seeker.

Northamptonshire Police confirmed it had received reports of a hate crime in connection with a post on social media.

A spokesman added: "In response, a 41-year-old woman from Northampton has been arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and remains in police custody."

The woman has since been released on police bail.

ITV News Anglia understands that Mrs Connolly has resigned her Ofsted registration and Childcare UK, a listings site for childcare providers, said: "Earlier today, we received information about a highly inappropriate tweet sent by a Twitter user unknown to us.

"Allegations later emerged that this individual may be an Ofsted registered childminder who had an advert on our platform. We took immediate action to suspend this advertiser."

Mrs Connolly's husband Raymond is a Conservative councillor on West Northamptonshire Council. He was elected to represent Delapre and Rushmere ward in May 2021.

ITV News has contacted Mrs Connolly and Mr Connolly for comment.

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