Tory councillor’s childminder spouse will enchantment in opposition to jail sentence
A Tory councillor whose wife was sentenced to 31 months in jail for inciting racial hatred during the recent riots is planning to appeal the sentence.
Lucy Connolly, 41, was convicted of incitement against asylum seekers after posting incendiary remarks on social media soon after three schoolgirls were stabbed to death in Southport in July – and was sentenced to 31-months in prison on Thursday.
The former childminder’s vile post read: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.’
Raymond Connolly, who is supporting his wife, told MailOnline she had never been in trouble before, saying: ‘Lucy had a speed awareness course but that was it between the pair of us in terms of criminal record.’
Still reeling from his wife’s prison sentence – which some have claimed was disproportionate – Mr Connolly was visibly upset.
Lucy Connolly has been jailed for stirring up racial hatred with a social media post
The 41-year-old has since deleted her post and blamed it on ‘a moment of extreme outrage and emotion’ when she was acting on ‘false and malicious’ information
Lucy Connolly’s Conservative councillor husband Raymond Connolly, pictured outside Northampton Crown Court, watched in court as she pleaded guilty to stirring up racial hatred
But he revealed that:
- The family are determined to appeal
- He thinks his wife’s sentence was political
- He believes that he has enemies and feels under attack
Mr Connolly also revealed his wife has been through personal tragedy before with the loss of a baby. He said: ‘This is all new to us and new ground.
‘But Lucy has been through worse things, so this will be difficult but she has been through worse.’
The West Northamptonshire Conservative party councillor went on: ‘She will be appealing and I will support the judicial process of whatever they decide to do.
‘The trouble is, I was always told it wasn’t political but today it seems to be. I’ve got to protect my family and my daughter. I am mum and dad now.
The engineer from Northampton continued: ‘I know I’ve got an enemy out there.’
Mr Connolly, who has one child with his wife as well as two from a previous relationship, said he feels that he is now ‘under attack’ but said his local community has been supporting him and his wife throughout the ordeal.
Serious violence and rioting by far-Right demonstrators broke out on the streets in Rotherham following the Southport attacks
Protesters try to cram into the migrant hotel through a damaged fire exit in Rotherham
Police officers stand near the broken windows of the hotel in Rotherham during an anti-immigration protest
He said: ‘People have been texting me all morning. I am chuffed to bits with the amount of support I’ve got from everybody in this area, in this street, in this community.
‘But obviously I know I am under attack now. So, I will just see what comes from that and I will make a decision on how to approach all of that then.
‘At the end of the day I am just an engineer. I am a grass roots councillor.
‘They [council colleagues] know Lucy has been reckless with her situation but…most of them are good friends of mine.
‘In my time as a councillor, I have been proud to serve my community. The support I have had has made me emotional.’
