An English mother who was sentenced to nearly three years in prison over a social media post in the wake of the horrific murder of three children in Southport has been denied early release by the Court of Appeal.
The British judicial system is facing accusations of two-tier justice yet again after rejecting the appeal of 42-year-old mother Lucy Connolly to have her 31-month prison sentence reduced on Tuesday, The Telegraph reported.
Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor and mother of a 12-year-old daughter, was jailed in October over a social media post in the wake of the mass stabbing committed by second-generation migrant Axel Rudakubana, which left three young girls dead and left 10 injured at a children’s Taylor Swift dance party in Southport in July of last year.
Following the horrific attack, the English mother, who had previously lost her own son at the age of 19 months over NHS failings, took to the X social media platform to express her rage.
“Mass deportation now, set fire to all the fucking hotels full of the bastards for all I care, while you’re at it, take the treacherous government politicians with them,” adding: “I feel physically sick knowing what these [Southport] families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist, so be it.”
While she deleted the post just hours later, and later condemned the riots which broke out following the stabbing attack, she was swept up in the mass arrest campaign launched by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
During the dragnet, over a thousand people were arrested, some of whom, like Connolly, for merely posting on the internet. The government also made efforts to release other criminals from jail early in order to clear space in Britain’s overcrowded prison system for those arrested in connection with the Southport riots.
Connolly pleaded guilty to “inciting racial hatred” resulting in an unusually lengthy sentence of 31 months. At the Court of Appeals, her lawyers argued that she did not fully understand what she was pleading guilty to and that the original judge in the case had not given due consideration to the impact the sentence would have on her 12-year-old daughter and ailing husband, who suffers from a bone marrow disease.
Nevertheless, three appeal judges shot down her bid for an early release on Tuesday, meaning that she will remain in prison at least until August. Despite having never committed another crime and winning plaudits for good behaviour while in prison, Connolly has also been denied temporary release to visit her family, as is often afforded to other prisoners.
The Free Speech Union (FSU), which assisted Connolly in her appeal, described the decision on Tuesday as “deeply disappointing” and said that her 31-month prison sentence was “plainly disproportionate.” The FSU noted that Connolly had received a longer prison sentence for her tweet than some of those who committed actual violence during the Southport riots, including by the same judge in her case.
Lord Young of Acton, the General Secretary of the FSU, said: “This is terribly disappointing. How can it be right for Lucy to have been condemned to spend more than two-and-a-half years in jail for a single tweet when members of grooming gangs who plead guilty to the sexual exploitation of children get lower sentences? Lucy should be at home with her 12-year-old daughter and husband, not rotting in jail.”
The case has also drawn condemnation from the political sphere. Reform UK deputy leader and MP for Boston and Skegness, Richard Tice, said that the decision to reject her early release was “disgraceful” and that it confirmed that Britain has a “two-tier” and “politically motivated” justice system.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss said: “Lucy Connolly should be released immediately and reunited with her family. The severity of her sentence is completely unjustifiable and a shocking example of two-tier justice, which now prevails in Britain. We are now suffering the consequences of a system that has been captured by Leftist ideology.”
Connolly’s case has also drawn international condemnation, including from Trump ally and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who told GB News on Tuesday that he plans to raise the issue with the U.S. State Department.
“Is this the way a liberal democracy and an ally of the United States acts?” Kirk questioned. He lamented that while Britain “birthed free speech to the world”, the UK is now “becoming a totalitarian country.”
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