You probably know of Lucy Connolly as the “Tory councillor’s racist wife” who posted a horrible tweet on the day of the Southport massacre in July last year. A bereaved mother herself, Lucy was horrified by the murder of three little girls at a holiday club and expressed her distress on social media. When she’d calmed down, a few hours later, Lucy deleted the tweet. It did not represent who she was as a person, as a wife to Ray, a loving mother to a twelve-year-old daughter, as a devoted and hugely popular childminder to small children of many different nationalities.
Lucy Connolly has paid a high price for a moment of anger. An unimaginably terrible price. Sir Keir Starmer threatened there would be heavy punishments for anyone arrested in connection with the Southport riots. He called them “far right thugs”. Lucy was arrested, she was denied bail to which she was entitled as a person of previously exemplary character and taken to prison. She was petrified. Lucy was advised by her solicitor to plead guilty because she’d be “out by Christmas”.
Tragically, the judge clearly decided to make an example of Lucy Connolly, giving her a horrifying 31-month sentence which shocked experienced lawyers. He appeared to give Lucy no credit for several mitigations:
- The fact she had a diagnosis of PTSD after her toddler Harry died in 2011 due to catastrophic medical negligence.
- The fact that, ever since, Lucy has been triggered by the suffering and deaths of children. She had an anxiety attack on the day of the Southport massacre.
- The fact that immigrant parents wrote many glowing testimonials about their children’s carer - “The kindest British person we’ve met,” one said.
Hardly anyone thinks Lucy Connolly deserved a custodial sentence. There is no proof her tweet stirred up racism or violence. She was expressing the anguish and frustration felt by millions of British people.
Compare and contrast with the treatment of a paedophile BBC broadcaster. Huw Edwards got just six months suspended for two years. He served no time in jail at all for publishing the worst category of child-sexual-abuse images. Former Labour MP Mike Amesbury punched a constituent and kicked him as he lay on the floor. Amesbury received 10 weeks in jail, his appeal was heard within days and his sentence was suspended.
How is a single tweet worse than a violent assault let alone paedophilia? It’s insane, and everyone knows it.
It took ten months to get Lucy’s case heard at the Court of Appeal (on 15 May). While in prison, she has repeatedly been denied the Right of Temporary Leave (ROTL) she is entitled to have at home with her young daughter, who is struggling without her mum, and with her husband who has bone marrow failure.
It seems to suit the authorities to treat this warm, bright, caring woman as a notorious villain while actual villains are given early release.
It is hard not to conclude that Lucy Connolly is Starmer’s Political Prisoner. It is laughable to brand her a “far-right thug”. This 42-year-old childminder is a victim of two-tier justice.
Lucy could really do with your help right now. Ray Connolly sold the family car and many other possessions to pay her legal fees. The bills have piled up since Lucy has been in jail and unable to work. There is a real risk they could lose their family home. If you make a donation, it will ease the family’s worries and give Lucy a breathing space to rebuild her shattered life. She says she wants to use her experience to help the Free Speech Union and to fight for other victims of two-tier justice.
If you think what happened to Lucy Connolly was wrong, and does not represent who we are as a nation, please give whatever you can.
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