Lucy Connolly was imprisoned for 31 months last year for an intemperate tweet on the night of the Southport massacre.
At every stage, she’s been treated cruelly by the justice system. She was denied bail. She was poorly advised by her original solicitor, Liam Muir. The judge paid little heed to significant mitigating factors in her case: including her past trauma, and that prison time would separate Lucy from her 12-year-old daughter and husband, Ray, who suffers from a chronic illness. Instead, Judge Melbourne Inman KC made an example of her in order to “punish and deter”. He even lectured her about diversity. Now, she is being denied release on temporary licence – which can be granted to murderers, and is being granted to her fellow inmates – to care for her family. She is viewed by many as a political prisoner.
Last Thursday, appearing from prison via videolink, she appealed her draconian sentence at the Royal Courts of Justice, backed by the Free Speech Union.
Here is my report after spending the day at the Royal Courts of Justice.
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