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BBC News, Northamptonshire
PA MediaThe spouse of a Conservative councillor who used to be jailed after a web-based rant at the day of ultimate yr’s Southport assaults “never” meant to incite violence, the Court of Appeal has heard.
Lucy Connolly, from Northampton, used a social media publish on 29 July to name for “mass deportation now” and advised fans to “set fire” to lodges housing asylum seekers.
She is interesting in opposition to the sentence of 2 years and 7 months she used to be given after she admitted inciting racial hatred.
Supporters staged an illustration outdoor the Appeal Court in London.
The publish got here after 3 women had been stabbed and killed at a vacation membership in Southport at the identical date, sparking national unrest.
Giving proof from HMP Drake Hall in Eccleshall in Staffordshire, Connolly advised the Appeal Court when she first of all wrote the publish on X that she used to be “really angry, really upset” and “distressed that those children had died” and that she knew how the oldsters felt.
The court docket heard that Connolly’s son died tragically about 14 years in the past, and that information of the murders in Southport had led to a resurgence of the anxiousness led to through her son’s loss of life.
Adam King, representing Connolly, requested if she had meant for any person to set fireplace to asylum lodges, or “murder any politicians”.
She spoke back: “Absolutely not.”
XWhen requested why she had deleted the publish 3 and a part hours after publishing it, Connolly added: “I calmed myself down, and I know that wasn’t an acceptable thing to say.
“It wasn’t the correct factor to mention; it wasn’t what I sought after to occur.”
Connolly told the court that during discussions with her barrister at the crown court, she did not understand that by pleading guilty she was accepting that she intended to incite violence.
She said: “When I wrote that tweet there were no violence and it used to be by no means my aim to reason any.”
PA MediaFollowing Thursday’s hearing, the Appeal Court judges said they would issue a written judgment “once imaginable”
Connolly’s husband, Ray, had been a Conservative member of West Northamptonshire Council but lost his seat on 1 May.
He remains on Northampton Town Council.
Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice after the hearing, Mr Connolly said: “Obviously I’m dissatisfied these days. It did not come to a conclusion and get a consequence.
“It’s 279 days now my daughter’s been without her mother. I’m hoping that within a week she’ll be home and this will come to a positive conclusion.”
