Lucy Connolly freed from jail after race-hate social media post in the wake of Southport murders

Lucy Connolly, married to ex-West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, was driven from HMP Peterborough in a taxi on Thursday morning, a prison source said.

The 42-year-old was handed a 31-month sentence in October after she posted on X: "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."

She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year.

The former childminder from Northampton was released after serving 10 months of her sentence, following the judge's order that she serve at least 40% of it in prison before being eligible for release on licence.

Read more: What did Lucy Connolly tweet to earn 31-month sentence

Connolly's case has sparked debate, with some criticising her sentence as excessive.

Upon her release, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her sentence was "harsher than those handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting".

Writing on X, Badenoch said: "At that time, after Southport, Keir Starmer branded all protesters ‘far-right’ and called for “fast-track prosecutions.

"Days later, Lucy was charged with stirring up racial hatred - an offence that doesn’t even require intent to incite violence. Why exactly did the Attorney General think that was in the public interest?

"Meanwhile, former Labour councillor Ricky Jones called for protestors to have their throats slit. Charged with encouraging violent disorder, he pleaded not guilty and was acquitted by a jury who saw his words as a disgusting remark made in the heat of the moment, not a call to action."

A bid to challenge her sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, which was described by Mr Connolly as "shocking and unfair".

The Northampton town councillor, and former West Northamptonshire district councillor, said his wife had "paid a very high price for making a mistake".

But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year.

He was asked in May about Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed.

Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an "efficient or fair use" of prison, Sir Keir said: "Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country.

"I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely.

"But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe."

Connolly 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 post was viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before she deleted it.

Lord Young of Acton, founder and director of the Free Speech Union, said: "The fact that Lucy Connolly has spent more than a year in prison for a single tweet that she quickly deleted and apologised for is a national scandal, particularly when Labour MPs, councillors and anti-racism campaigners who've said and done much worse have avoided jail.

"The same latitude they enjoyed should have been granted to Lucy."