Lucy Connolly, the Northamptonshire mother who was arrested last year for a post on X, has alleged that her 13-year-old daughter has been barred from attending her new school after the headteacher discovered Lucy was her mother.
In the aftermath of the horrific Southport murders, Lucy posted a single, intemperate message on X calling for mass deportations and suggesting that hotels housing asylum seekers should be targeted for all she “cared”. She deleted the post within three hours. Despite this, Lucy was arrested and sentenced to 31 months in prison, of which she served 40 per cent. This was a disproportionate and excessive punishment — one that the founder and General Secretary of the Free Speech Union described as a “national scandal”.
Lucy alleges that her daughter has been subjected to “unfair treatment” and is now being punished for her mother’s actions. According to Lucy’s account, the school’s reason for the decision was that “racism doesn’t go down well at the school and that my daughter being there would cause a ruckus.”
Following Lucy’s release from prison, she had planned to give her daughter a fresh start and began searching for a new school. After visiting the school, meeting with teachers and completing all the relevant documentation, her daughter Edie was excited for the move that coming Monday — until her current school informed Lucy that the place had been rescinded. Connolly told GB News that her daughter then spent the weekend “crying in her room”.
No child should be denied a place at their chosen school because of their parents’ actions or because teachers disagree with their views.
The Free Speech Union supported Lucy’s unsuccessful appeal against her sentence. We saw first-hand the impact that the last year and a half have had on her and are shocked that not only is she still being punished, but now her daughter is too.
Read more in The Sun.