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Lucy Connolly, 41, the partner of Conservative West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly, is set to appear at Northampton Crown Court charged with publishing written material to stir up racial hatred.
Ms Connolly was refused bail and remanded in custody until her appearance today in relation to a social media message calling for attacks on asylum seekers.
The court heard it is alleged that Connolly, from Parkfield Avenue, Northampton, posted on X, formerly Twitter, on the day of the Southport knife killings, saying: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.”
It comes as far-right riots engulfed the country, with over 900 people arrested and 466 charged in relation to the violent disorder.
In Rotherham, South Yorkshire, a far-right mob tried to set fire to a Holiday Inn Express believed to be housing asylum seekers.
Towns and cities including Liverpool, Middlesborough and Sunderland also saw widespread violence, with people arrested for offences ranging from violent disorder to theft and antisocial behaviour.
Three men charged after violent disorder in Southport
Three further males have been charged following the violent disorder in Southport on Tuesday 30 July.
Harvey Gabbott, 21, of Hillside, Tarleton, and Paul Dryhurst, 33, of Gale Road, Litherland, have been charged with violent disorder and remanded to appear at Liverpool Magistrates Court today, Monday 12 August.
A 12-year-old male from Southport was also charged with violent disorder and remanded to appear at Merseyside Youth Court this morning.
It brings the total number of people charged in connection with the recent disorder in Southport and Liverpool to 30.
Two men charged for Facebook post featuring ‘threatening material’
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it has authorised South Wales Police to charge two men over Facebook posts that allegedly intended to stir up racial or religious hatred.
Geraint Boyce, 43, and Jamie Michael, 45, are accused of publishing threatening material on a Facebook account, contrary to Section 29C(1) of the Public Order Act 1986.
The CPS said the charges relate to Facebook posts on or around July 31 in relation to the widespread public disorder.
Boyce, of Penrhiw-Fer, and Michael, of Penygraig, are due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Man charged over TikTok video intended to stir up racial hatred
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it has authorised Northumbria Police to charge a man with distributing a recording intending to stir up racial hatred.
James Aspin, 34, is accused of an offence contrary to Section 29E of the Public Order Act 1986.
The CPS said the charge relates to an alleged video published on TikTok on or before August 8, 2024.
Mr Aspin, of Blyth, Northumberland, is due to appear at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court today.
Nigel Farage accuses Starmer of being ‘biggest threat to free speech’
The Reform UK leader has accused Sir Keir Starmer of being a “threat to free speech” after the prime minister suggested the government would review social media laws in the wake of far-right riots.
But right-wing Mr Farage has criticised the move calling the PM to allow people to “speculate and ask questions” online.
Speaking on Fox News, the right-wing politician said: “Nobody should use any social media platform to spread hate or incite violence… I think all of us would agree with that free speech rule.
“But what we should be allowed to do on social media is to speculate. Is to ask questions. To try and put facts out that wake up the rest of the community
“When you’re engaged in something like that, you can never guarantee that what you say is 100 per cent true. Starmer by cracking down on that, poses the biggest threat to free speech we’ve seen in our history.”
Man accused of assaulting emergency worker charged
A man has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker after a counter protest in Brighton.
Ian Ward, 53, of Old Mill Close, Portslade, will appear in court also accused of common assault and affray, after the 2,000-strong demonstration in the East Sussex city on August 7.
He has been remanded in custody and will appear at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
A Sussex Police spokesman added: “Police officers and PCSOs will continue to provide a visible and reassuring presence across the county and anyone with information or concerns is asked to speak to local officers or report online.”
People are asked to quote Operation Skylark when contacting the force via 101 or 999 in an emergency.
U-turn on cabinet minister’s claim rioters will not be freed early
A cabinet minister’s claim rioters will not be freed early to help ease chronic overcrowding in UK jails has been hurriedly rowed back.
Last month ministers announced plans to release some inmates early to free up prison space, blaming the decision on the last Conservative government and overcrowding.
Asked if he could guarantee that rioters would not be set free early under the scheme, Mr Reynolds told The Camilla Tominey Show on GB News: “I understand that they won’t be.”
He added that it was “because of those difficult decisions that were made by the ministers in the new government… that there is capacity in the system to deal with this disorder”.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story:
Exclusive: Anti-racism Muslim group urge government to ramp up safety commitments
A prominent anti-racist Muslim group are urging the government to ramp up its commitment to gender-based Islamophobia, The Independent can reveal.
Shaista Aziz, Amna Abdullatif and Huda Jawad, who are known as “The Three Hijabis” due to their heritage and Islamic religious dress, have been contacted by Muslim women across the country with worries and reports of their hijabs being pulled off in the street.
“Muslim women being afraid to travel into their town and city centres – making them no-go areas for them, is gendered Islamophobia,” a statement, first seen by The Independent, from The Three Hijabis says.
Our race correspondent Nadine White has the full story:
Violent rioters could face up to 10 years in jail, top prosecutor warns
The director of public prosecutions has reportedly warned that the worst offending protesters could face up to 10 years in prison if they are charged with rioting.
Stephen Parkinson, head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said hundreds of violent rioters will continue appearing in courts across the country in the coming days, the Sunday Times said.
Mr Parkinson reportedly told of a “new phase” of cases which will include “more serious charges with stiffer penalties”.
Many charged so far have been prosecuted for violent disorder, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
The Sunday Times reported that the CPS is considering charging people with the more serious offence of rioting, which could lead to 10 years’ imprisonment.
The newspaper quoted Mr Parkinson saying: “We warned of the consequences and we will deliver these consequences.
“It’s not about exacting revenge, it’s about delivering justice.”
It comes as the parents of a “precious” six-year-old girl killed in the Southport attack said that their older daughter saw and escaped the stabbing.
Bebe King was killed alongside Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, during a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class at the Hart Space on M
Archbishop of Canterbury says far-right rioters are unchristian
The Archbishop of Canterbury has labelled the far-right “unchristian” and condemned the use of Christian imagery in the riots as “an offence to our faith”.
Justin Welby made the remarks condemning the violent unrest, which he described as “racist”, “anti-Muslim, anti-refugee”, in an article for the Guardian newspaper.
The country’s most senior Christian leader weighed in following a week of disorder that began after a mass stabbing of children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport in July.
The archbishop’s called Christians to distance themselves from the far-right, writing: “Let me say clearly now to Christians that they should not be associated with any far-right group – because those groups are unchristian.”
He added that Christian iconography had been “exploited” by the far-right and served as “an offence to our faith”.
Speaking directly to Muslims and other faiths, Mr Welby said: “We denounce people misusing such imagery as fundamentally antichristian.”
Mr Welby said the riots were “detonated by lies and fuelled by deliberate misinformation, spread quickly online by bad actors with malignant motivations.”
He added: “The lies and misinformation flourished in fertile ground cultivated by years of rhetoric from some of our press and politicians, arriving at a point where some felt emboldened to try to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers and target mosques.”
The archbishop also rejected the description of the riots as “protests” and said they were “criminal” and “must be controlled”.
First child to be convicted for violent disorder in Sunderland
A 15-year-old boy has become the first child to be convicted for his part in violent disorder in Sunderland, Northumbria Police said.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Friday morning as part of a round of early-morning raids across Sunderland.
He appeared at South Tyneside Youth Court on Saturday where he admitted one charge of violent disorder and the burglary of a business, after stealing from a vape shop.
He will next appear at South Tyneside Youth Court on Thursday.
Source: independent.co.uk
