Overview

• Connolly left HMP Peterborough by taxi on Thursday morning after serving roughly 40% of her term, according to a prison source.
• She pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court to inciting racial hatred over an X post calling for asylum‑seeker hotels to be set on fire, which was viewed about 310,000 times before deletion.
• Police recovered additional racist messages from her phone, and her sentencing judge cited the wider context of the Southport murders and subsequent unrest.
• In May, the Court of Appeal led by Lord Justice Holroyde refused her bid to reduce the sentence, finding no arguable case that it was manifestly excessive.
• Her release has drawn fresh political reaction, with Kemi Badenoch calling the punishment disproportionate and Prime Minister Keir Starmer defending the courts’ stance against incitement, and she is expected to give limited media interviews on Friday.