Lucy Connolly sentenced

[Rockalittle78]

Lucy Connolly sentenced to two and a half years.

The unrest was caused by longstanding issues including murders by asylum seekers that have been covered up and played down. But obviously tweets like that should be punished and no one should make excuses. People can see other cases (eg the convoy who drove through a Jewish area shouting death to the Jews and had charges dropped) which have been treated much more leniently. The British have a strong sense of fairness and this imbalance leads to anger.

The 'unrest' was caused by misinfromation from far right sources

Too harsh? No
Disproportionate-
Yes

And I couldn't care less what happens to her or similar people who think what they don't have to be held accountable for their behaviour on social media but I really wish harsher sentencing would happen so those who have lost loved ones or friends or had their lives ruined due to sexual abuse get justice and a sense of closure

I don’t know anyone who took part in the unrest, but I know a few people who think the rioters were justified.

To hear them talk about why they agree with them, it’s all misinformation, about perceived financial inequality, misquoted information about crime, misinformed perceptions about what asylum seekers get, it’s ’information they’ve got from social media, that no one’s checked, people like the person who made up a name for the person who killed the little girls in Southport and said they were an asylum seeker.

They're disenfranchised and being fed information on who to feel angry at and who to blame.

Try and watch the film 'Let him have it!' (Or read the book.)

Also, look at the case of 'Jennifer Ann Mee.'

The 2 referenced above by me - are cases where the person didn't harm anyone, but still got sent to jail for being the instigator. You deserve almost as much as - if the not the same - punishment as a person who does commit a crime, if you are telling/encouraging others to do it. And the law agrees!

Derek Bentley?

Do I think the sentence is disproportionate compared to sentences for other serious crimes, probably yes.

Do I care that this particular twat is going to be eating prison food for the next twelve months, no I do not.

Massively disproportionate sentencing. If everyone who ever made a grossly inappropriate statement were jailed we’d have literally millions in jail.

Restorative justice is far more appropriate in such cases.

The problem with such harsh sentencing is that consistency becomes an issue. Most crimes have wide sentencing ranges. To suddenly start imposing top end sentencing on certain convictions doesn’t create confidence in the justice system.

Possession of cat C drugs can lead to up to 2 years in prison and an unlimited fine.

Imagine one Saturday night the police rounded up everyone who had even the tiniest bit of cannabis and seized all their assets and jailed them for 2 years.

So, incitement prior to Blair when he brought in a new law (sorry can't remember it's name) had to be linked to a crime that was actually committed rather than a general call to crime which was ignored. I'm unclear in this case whether an actual crime was committed linked to this tweet (although obvs because the law was changed it didn't have to be). It is absolutely not the case that the riots were caused by tweets (despite what the Guardian/BBC has told you) and there are deep seated concerns about the asylum system which probably most people not in Guardian world share.

Well deserved to be quite honest. Nasty cow.

A big fine and a suspended sentence or house arrest with a nice ankle collar would probably have been more appropriate. She's a nasty piece of work but I'd rather tax payers money and prison space be allocated to the nastier pieces of work that actually are a danger to society.

Ermmm.... Bentley was executed and it was an enormous miscarriage of justice for which a royal pardon was eventually and shamefully belatedly given : so maybe not your best example.

undoubtedly, but being a nasty person isn't illegal

An example of the 'worst' things she said was " "mass deportation now" and added: "If that makes me racist, so be it." Not something I agree with but just a few months ago our actual, elected government was deporting immigrants to Rwanda. How can essentially supporting government policy be indicative of criminality?

She should absolutely have been found guilty and punished but sentencing her to prison is completely disproportionate. Keeping her in prison will cost nearly £40k a year. Meanwhile people found guilty of having and distributing CSA images don't get a day.

People WERE "actually harmed" by the outcomes of this kind of racist incitement

People are still terrified that they are going to be targeted, attacked or abused.

She was found guilty at trial of a crime that can get a sentence of up to 7 years in prison.

That other crimes you perceive as more serious are not appropriately punished is entirely irrelevant

Completely agree with this! It's a shocking sentence that seems very harsh especially given the thugs from Manchester Airport still haven't been charged and will only feed into the very narrative they're trying to avoid.

On this thread, those minimising her actions have said 'it was a visceral reaction', 'she's a mother' as if that's some sort of justification.

So when a bloke has a visceral reaction and spouts on social media that he wants unspeakable violence to be perpetrated on innocent people, that's ok too is it? I mean, he's a guy. He might be a dad. Therefore it's understandable yeah?

Honestly, anyone defending these vile actions must have warped values. Connolly pled guilty to inciting racial violence. Why the hell anyone might think a short custodial sentence is unfair is truly bizarre

She got what she deserved.

I'm absolutely disgusted at the dismissiveness on this thread towards the harm caused by this.

The horrendous, racist violence that resulted and was legitimised by "visceral" responses like this has devastated our community. Resettled community members are still very frightened and feel unsafe going to work or getting their kids to school or going on public transport. Southport's visitor economy is in tatters - and therefore so are many businesses and livelihoods. Recovery will take years.

The sentence is massively disproportionate. Helen Jones tweeted a trans rights activist who threatened to kill her and burn Posie Parkers house got a suspended sentence. Huw Edwards wasn’t jailed. The people who drove around London shouting about killing Jews weren’t killed.

What she said was absolutely wrong but to contextualise a horrific senseless murder of 3 young children had just happened and this women, who had lost a child herself in tragic circumstances, fired her mouth off stupidly and then deleted the tweet 3 hours later. She’s being made an example for political reasons and it that doesn’t scare you it should.

Me too. Inciting violence and racial hatred is not nothing, except to low lifes..

The Islamist attacks in London and Manchester and others have made the UK feel less safe and destabilised our economy too. So shouldn’t calls for jihad heard on the streets of London be treated in the same way?