Lucy Connolly, the wife of a former Conservative councillor, has lost her appeal against a 31-month prison sentence for inciting racial hatred after posting a tweet calling for hotels housing asylum seekers to be set on fire. The Court of Appeal rejected her application, ruling the sentence was not manifestly excessive.
Connolly, a childminder, posted the message on X in July last year following the Southport knife attack that killed three girls. The tweet, viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before deletion, read: “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.”
In a written judgment, Lord Justice Holroyde stated there was “no arguable basis” to suggest the sentence was excessive. He noted the appeal was “substantially based on a version of events put forward by the applicant which we have rejected”.
The court heard that before her arrest, Connolly 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 sent another tweet about a sword attack, saying: “I bet my house it was one of these boat invaders.”
Connolly, who pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court in October, gave evidence from HMP Drake Hall, stating she was “really angry, really upset” and distressed by the children's deaths. She referenced losing her own son 14 years ago, saying: “Those parents still have to live a life of grief. It sends me into a state of anxiety and I worry about my children.”
