Lucy Connolly’s racial hatred cost ‘was sped up by regulation chief’: Fears Tory councillor’s spouse ‘was scapegoated’

Lucy Connolly’s criminal charge for a ‘racist’ tweet was fast-tracked for approval by Lord Hermer, it has emerged.

The childminder, who is married to a Conservative councillor, was imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire in October 2024.

She had pleaded guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred following the Southport riots that summer.

It has now come to light that Ms Connolly’s case was treated as an ’emergency charging’ decision – sealed for approval by Labour Attorney General Lord Hermer.

Counter-terrorism prosecutors secured consent for Ms Connolly’s prosecution from Hermer’s office within 12 hours of requesting it on a Friday night.

The details were disclosed in Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) documents, The Telegraph reports.

Behind-the-scenes actions of police, prosecutors and the Attorney General were also revealed in the files – with officials reporting Ms Connolly’s charge, under the Public Order Act of 1986, was sped up under a national directive to deal with cases quickly.

It was intended this would help prevent further disorders in the wake of the killings of three girls in Southport.

However, the fast-tracking of the case has sparked fresh claims that Ms Connolly was a ‘political prisoner’ who was ‘scapegoated’ by the Government.

Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, told The Telegraph: ‘This clearly shows that the Government wanted to make an example of Lucy Connolly… she was scapegoated by the Government, and it appears to me that, had she pleaded not guilty, she would have had a good chance of being acquitted.

‘Thirty one months in prison for an offensive social media post is grossly disproportionate… an immigrant who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old recently got off with no prison at all.’

Deputy Reform UK leader Richard Tice added: ‘The Attorney General, who has been exposed in so many different ways as being reprehensible and who conspired to act against British troops, has… acted against freedom of speech. 

‘The real question is: can he survive these ever increasing revelations or should he do the right thing and resign.’

A spokesman for Lord Hermer said: ‘Decisions to prosecute are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘For a small number of offences, it is a legal requirement that the CPS obtains the Attorney General’s consent after it has decided to prosecute. This case was responded to in the same manner and timeline as many other similar cases at the time.’

A source added the idea anything improper took place is ‘utterly baseless’.

Connolly was given a 31-month sentence in October, 2024 after admitting to making her ‘racist’ post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The post, which she later deleted, said: ‘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.’

Connolly had told the Court of Appeal in London she ‘never’ intended to incite violence and did not realise pleading guilty would mean she accepted she had. But her argument was rejected.

Emails show Ms Connolly was in custody on August 9, 2024 as police prepared to charge her.

As the day progressed, senior officials discussed the status of Ms Connolly’s case.

A specialist prosecutor said at 8.45pm that the Attorney General was ‘pretty confident’ they could get a decision signed off in the evening.

An email from Lord Hermer’s office the following morning read: ‘The Attorney has reviewed and granted his consent, please see fiat attached. Please can you keep us updated with substantive developments in the case.’

Ms Connolly, of Northampton, was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account. But other messages which included more condemning remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone.

Her X post was made just hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls and attempted to murder 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, sparking nationwide unrest.

The former childminder was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred. 

The Southport atrocity sparked nationwide unrest, with several people – including Connolly – jailed as a result.

Her tweet was viewed 310,000 times in three-and-a-half hours before she deleted it.

She later pleaded guilty to distributing material with the intention of stirring up racial hatred at Birmingham Crown Court and was sentenced to 31 months in prison.

But she told the Court of Appeal in May last year that she had no idea about the full extent of what she was admitting, and that her solicitor Liam Muir had not properly explained what ‘inciting violence’ meant in the context of her tweet.

It was only when the judge was speaking at her sentencing hearing that it fully dawned on her, she said when applying to have her prison term reduced.

The case sparked international interest with the White House saying in May it was ‘monitoring’ Connolly’s case.

US officials expressed ‘concerns’ about free speech in Britain.

Lord Hermer has faced criticism since his appointment as attorney general in July 2024 – including for his role in the Government’s decision to hand the Chagos Islands back to Mauritaus and for his approach to government legal advice.