Elon Musk wades in on yet another UK legal case - but who is Lucy Connolly?

Twitter/X owner Elon Musk, who’s so much of a ‘free speech absolutist’ that he’s restricted posts on his social media platform which say the word ‘cisgender’ and has temporarily banned journalists from the site, has once again intervened in a case involving a prisoner in the UK – that of one Lucy Connolly.

The Donald Trump ally and Tesla boss previously sparked controversy for demanding the release of far-right criminal Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), claiming he is in prison for “telling the truth” about grooming gangs.

The reality is that Yaxley-Lennon is currently serving time for contempt of court, after breaching a court order not to defame a Syrian refugee.

Now, Musk has spoken out against a jail sentence for Connolly, retweeting a tweet from a conservative news account which says the mother was “sentenced to two years in jail for X post” and adding a typically succinct response in the form of an ellipsis.

He went on to retweet another tweet about the case, which claimed Connolly has been “denied temporary release” despite her husband Raymond – a Tory councillor for West Northamptonshire Council - being “seriously ill”.

And Musk isn’t the only one to speak out, with the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister Liz Truss calling for her to be “released immediately” and slamming a judicial system which has been “captured by leftist ideology”:

Who is Lucy Connolly?

Following the murder of three young girls in Southport last year, Ms Connolly took to Twitter/X and wrote: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care., while you’re at it take the treacherous government and politicians with them.

“I feel physically sick knowing what these families will now have to endure. If that makes me racist so be it.”

She later deleted the tweet, and after being arrested in August, she pled guilty to publishing threatening or abusive material intending to stir up racial hatred a month later.

Connolly was jailed in October, when she was handed a 31-month prison sentence and was ordered to serve 40 per cent of this behind bars before being released on license.

In other words, she’s required to carry out just over 12 months of her sentence in prison before being released, which takes us to around October this year.

According to The Telegraph, Connolly has had applications for a ‘release on temporary license’ (an ROTL, meaning a prisoner can leave prison for a short duration) refused, with the prisoner claiming the deputy governor told a probation officer there was “no way” it would be granted “because of press and public perception”.

An appeal concerning Connolly’s case will be heard at the Court of Appeal on 15 May, with the Daily Mail reporting that it will be an appeal against the sentence, and that her barrister is “expected to argue the judge mischaracterised her offence”.

Meanwhile, a prison service spokesman told the outlet: “Decisions on release on temporary licence and home detention curfew are made following uncompromising risk assessments to prioritise public safety.

“These are discretionary schemes, and each case is rigorously scrutinised, considering the severity of the offence, the prisoner's conduct and the potential impact on victims and the community.”

Why not read…

• Elon Musk haters given chance to ‘smash the utter f***’ out of a Tesla in ‘safe and legal’ London stunt
• Musk claims 'humanoid robots' will outnumber people and invade Earth

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