Lucy Connolly, a childminder jailed for 31 months for inciting racial hatred after the Southport knife attacks, has lost her appeal against the sentence. The Court of Appeal rejected her application, ruling the sentence was not manifestly excessive.
Connolly, married to former Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, posted on X in July last year: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.” The post, viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours, followed the killing of three girls in Southport.
In a written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde stated: “There is no arguable basis on which it could be said that the sentence imposed by the judge was manifestly excessive.” He noted the appeal was based on a rejected version of events.
Connolly pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court in October. The court heard she sent a WhatsApp message saying the “raging tweet about burning down hotels has bit me on the arse lol” and planned to “play the mental health card” if arrested. She also admitted working as a childminder “on the sly” after being deregistered.
Giving evidence from HMP Drake Hall, Connolly said she was “really angry, really upset” and distressed by the children’s deaths, adding she knew the parents’ grief after losing her own son 14 years ago. The appeal was dismissed.
