Overview

• Connolly left HMP Peterborough on Thursday morning in a taxi after serving about 40% of her 31-month sentence and will complete the term on licence under supervision.
• She admitted inciting racial hatred for a post on the day of the Southport murders that said “set fire to all the f****** hotels,” which was viewed about 310,000 times before deletion.
• Police arrested her on August 6, 2024 and recovered additional racist messages from her phone, and a judge assessed the offending as high culpability under sentencing guidelines.
• The Court of Appeal rejected her bid to reduce the sentence in May, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended the courts’ approach and Kemi Badenoch criticized the punishment as disproportionate.
• Following her release she says she plans legal action against police over public statements, intends to meet US free-speech figures, and is expected to give limited media interviews.