Lucy Connolly to be freed from prison today after hate-tweet jail term
Lucy Connolly to be released from prison after serving part of 31-month sentence for hate tweet
- Lucy Connolly, a 42-year-old from Northampton, is scheduled for release from HMP Peterborough today after serving part of her 31-month sentence.
- She was jailed in October for inciting racial hatred through online posts on X (formerly Twitter) made on July 29 last year, which called for violence against asylum seekers.
- Connolly pleaded guilty to publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material and was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison.
- Her bid to challenge the sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, a decision her husband, Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, criticised as "shocking and unfair".
- Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the sentence, highlighting the independence of the courts and the importance of preventing incitement to violence, while some, including Lord Young of Acton, argued the sentence was excessive.