Childminder jailed for urging people to burn down asylum seeker hotels after Southport attack

  • Judge Melbourne Inman KC told Connolly she had published her words at a volatile time which had led to "mindless violence"

A childminder who admitted stirring up racial hatred with a tweet calling for attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers has been jailed.

Lucy Connolly, 41, the wife of a Tory councillor in Northamptonshire, posted on X in August on the day three girls were killed in Southport, amid online misinformation about the identity of the killer, including false claims he was an asylum seeker.

She 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."

On Thursday she was jailed for two years and seven months at Birmingham Crown Court, having last month pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing “threatening or abusive” written material.

She was told she would serve 40% of the sentence in custody.

Lucy Connolly posted on X following the deaths of three girls at a holiday club in Southport. Credit: X

Sentencing her, Recorder of Birmingham Judge Melbourne Inman KC said: “When you published those words you were well aware how volatile the situation was.

“That volatility led to serious disorder where mindless violence was used.”

The judge added that Connolly – who remained calm on the prison video-link – had encouraged activity which threatened or endangered life with her post on 29 July.

  • From the courtroom - Rosie Dowsing, ITV News Anglia

Lucy Connolly and her husband Raymond would have known before today that a custodial sentence was likely.

The 41-year-old has been in custody since her arrest in August, and have seen others jailed for similar riot-related offences in the intervening months.

Connolly, appearing by prison-link from HMP Peterborough, appeared calm throughout the hearing, looking down to the ground as prosecutors read the words that had brought her before the court.

As her lawyers laid out her mitigation, there were murmurs of agreement from her supporters in the public gallery.

There was silence, however, as the judge passed sentence, and her husband ignored reporters’ questions as he left court.

Lucy Connolly will be eligible for release in just over a year, the judge said. Credit: Northamptonshire Police

Prosecutors told the court that at the time of her post, Lucy Connolly had 10,000 followers. Her post was seen 310,000 times, had 940 reposts and was bookmarked 113 times.

By the time of her arrest, her account had been deleted.

The sentencing hearing was told the former childminder sent a WhatsApp message on August 5 joking that the tweet to her 10,000 followers had “bit me on the arse, lol.”

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.”

Another post sent by Connolly – commenting on a video posted by Tommy Robinson – read “Somalian I guess” and was accompanied by a vomiting emoji.

Others online came to her defence, among them Northampton father-of-three Tyler Kay, who posted the same wording with the hashtag #standwithlucyconnolly, among other posts. He was jailed for 38 months in the summer.

The court heard Connolly told police in interviews that she did not like illegal immigrants and "wanted them gone", adding that she felt scared of them.

Dad-of-three jailed for online post urging people to 'burn hotels'

Connolly had issued an apology for her X post before her arrest, saying she had acted on “false and malicious” information.

She wrote: "In a moment of outrage and emotion, I posted words that I realise were wrong in every way."

The court heard she later told a friend this apology had been done "for [her] husband's sake", and she told another friend if she were to be arrested she would "play the mental health card".

Raymond Connolly speaking to reporters outside court after an earlier hearing. Credit: PA Images

In mitigation, Connolly's lawyer Liam Muir said she had been "triggered" by the deaths in Southport, having lost a son herself, but that race had not been the motivating factor.

Despite her post she had not wanted violence to follow, they added, pointing out that she sent the post before any had broken out.

Mr Muir said: “The horrendous way in which she lost her son, being turned away from the health service, can only have a drastic detrimental effect on someone.

“Whatever her intention was in posting the offending tweet, it was short-lived and she didn’t expect the violence that followed, and she quickly tried to quell it.”

Her husband declined to comment on the sentencing as he left Birmingham Crown Court.

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