The wife of a Conservative councillor who was jailed for posting an online rant about migrants on the day of the Southport murders is due to find out if an appeal against her 31-month sentence has been successful.
Lucy Connolly was jailed last October after admitting making the post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The post, which she later deleted, said: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.”
It came after three girls were stabbed and killed at a holiday club in Southport on the same date, sparking nationwide unrest.
Last week Connolly told the Court of Appeal in London she “never” intended to incite violence and did not realise pleading guilty would mean she accepted that she had.
She said she had been “really angry” after the Southport attacks, but hours after posting the rant on X realised it was not an acceptable thing to say, so deleted it.
Adam King, representing Connolly, asked if she had intended for anyone to set fire to asylum hotels or “murder any politicians”.
She replied: “Absolutely not.”
Naeem Valli, for the prosecution, told the court the post was a reflection of her attitude towards immigrants.
He added: “At the time of creating the post, the applicant clearly intended the racial hatred would be stirred up and also intended to incite serious violence.”
Earlier, he had asked Connolly if she believed the country was being “invaded” by immigrants.
She replied: “I believe that we have a massive number of people in the country that are unchecked, coming into the country and I believe that is a national security risk.”
She added that it would be “absolutely incorrect” to say she did not want immigrants in the country.
Connolly, of Northampton, was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages which included further racist remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone.
The former childminder, who is married to Raymond Connolly, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court last October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred.
Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor but lost his seat in May. He remains on the town council.
Lord Justice Holroyde, Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Sheldon are expected to give their judgment on the appeal on Tuesday.
