Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe told a podcast this week that Lucy Connolly was “locked up for 32 months for just a very emotional social media post” about the Southport attack “which she deleted after four hours”. However, the facts show Connolly served about 12-and-a-half months in prison.
What actually happened
Connolly was handed a 31-month sentence after pleading guilty to distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred. She was required to serve 40% of that sentence – about 12 and a half months – in prison, with the remainder on licence.
On July 29 2024, Axel Rudakubana stabbed 11 children at a dance class in Southport, Merseyside, killing three girls. He also stabbed their teacher and another adult who tried to intervene. Connolly posted on X the same day: “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.”
Court proceedings
She pleaded guilty in September 2024 to the offence of distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred. According to the judge’s sentencing remarks, the post had 310,000 views, 940 reposts, 58 quotes and 113 bookmarks. The post remained visible on X for at least three-and-a-half hours.
The judge noted that Connolly sent a WhatsApp message on August 5 2024 that included “raging tweet about burning down hotels has bit me on the arse lol”. She also wrote that if she was arrested, she would “play the mental health card”. Police arrested her on August 6 2024, by which time Connolly had deleted her X account.
Sentence and release
On October 17 2024, a judge at Birmingham Crown Court sentenced Connolly to 31 months’ imprisonment, and said she would serve 40% of that sentence – about 12 and a half months – with the remainder on licence. The judge took into account that Connolly had no previous convictions, her character references, and that her child had died “some years ago”. The judge added Connolly did not repeat the statements of the X post, had deleted it and also sent some messages “to the effect that violence was not the answer”.
Connolly’s bid to appeal against her sentence was dismissed in May 2025. The Court of Appeal ruled there was “no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive”. She was released from prison in August 2025. Including her two months on remand between her arrest and sentencing, Connolly was in prison for some 12-and-a-half months.
