Northampton man, 35, given community order for ‘dangerous’ Facebook post about Lucy Connolly

Jake Newman, 35, was told by a judge at Birmingham Crown Court he had committed a “dangerous, potentially very risky criminal act” when he posted a comment on Facebook about Ms Connolly that said: “Time to treat her house the way she wanted hotels treated, just make sure she’s in it and not able to get out.”

Ms Connolly, a former childminder and wife of a Conservative councillor, was jailed for stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers in the aftermath of the Southport murders in 2024.

She was handed a 31-month sentence at Birmingham Crown Court in October that year after admitting inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing “threatening or abusive” material on X after writing: “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.”

Prosecution counsel Julian Lynch told Newman’s sentencing hearing on Thursday that he had made the comment on August 22 last year beneath a social media post by the Northampton Chronicle newspaper about Ms Connolly’s release from prison.

The comment was reported and police attended Newman’s address the same day and arrested him.

Newman, of Kingsley Road, Northampton, admitted to officers he made the comment but said he had no intention of causing alarm or distress or of inciting others to take action.

He was due to face trial after denying a charge of sending a communication threatening death or serious harm but changed his plea to guilty.

Mr Lynch said the prosecution accepted Newman’s guilty plea, which was made on the basis that he had been reckless as to whether others would have been incited or encouraged to act on his words.

The barrister said there was “no suggestion it was a thought-through action on (Newman’s) part” and that Ms Connolly had “not been interested in engaging with the process”.

Defending Newman, Diane Mundill said the defendant had been scrolling on his phone while awaiting medication at a time when he was was “anxious”.

She said he had demonstrated positive progress and now has “greater insight into his behaviour”.

Handing Newman a 12-month community order with a probation requirement, Judge Andrew Smith KC warned he would face prison if he refused to comply with the sentence.

The judge accepted that Newman had been suffering from the effects of an acquired brain injury, which included impulsivity.

Of the Facebook post, the judge said: “You did not read the (newspaper) article but were familiar with the background.

“You did, however, read other messages that seemed supportive of the individual and this frustrated you.

“You posted a comment the next day which read ‘Time to treat her house the way she wanted hotels treated, just make sure she’s in it and not able to get out’.

“When you posted that comment, you were reckless as to whether an individual would fear the threat of death.

“Whilst you did not wish the individual to feel fear, that was a very real risk of what you said.

“This was a dangerous, potentially very risky, criminal act.”

The court heard Newman had previous convictions, including some that were “loosely related to internet misuse”, but he was assessed as being a low risk of further offending.

The judge said: “I accept this was impulsive offending limited to a single post where you were reckless to the potential consequences.

“I accept you are now remorseful and have the additional factor in your favour of the support of your mum, although I am sure she does not condone what you did.”