by Norman Fenton, Right Times
Lucy Connolly’s deeply disturbing account of her arrest, prosecution and imprisonment – of what happens when an individual is politically targeted by the State – deserves everyone’s attention
Disclaimer: I have met Lucy Connolly on a number of occasions since her release from prison. Contrary to some of the ludicrous conspiracy theories circulated about her on X, she is exactly as she presents herself: a hard-working mother and childminder who had been a pillar of her community, and who suffered the devastating loss of her young son in 2011 following NHS negligence. She was then thrust into the national spotlight after being arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned for a tweet posted in the immediate aftermath of the Southport murders.
A Tweet Too Far (available on Kindle on Amazon) is one of the most important and moving books I have read this year. Even for those who followed Lucy’s story closely, the details it provides about her arrest, prosecution, conviction and treatment in prison is far worse than I certainly had realised. It is a deeply disturbing account of what can happen when an individual becomes the target of a politically charged campaign. I came away with even greater admiration for her courage and resilience, and with an even stronger sense of the injustice she and her family have endured.
The book has two parallel narrators: Lucy herself and a co-author and ghostwriter, Gen Nevis, or Adam, as he presents himself. At first I wanted to read only Lucy’s story without interruption, but as the book progresses Adam’s contribution becomes increasingly valuable. He supplies the wider political and social context, examines comparable cases, and offers a broader critique of the many things he sees as going wrong in Britain. He also describes the activities and funding of organisations such as the British Red Cross, making some astonishing claims about the preferential treatment and financial support allegedly provided to illegal migrants and their families.
The early chapters deal with the terrible tragedy of Lucy’s young son’s death. This is essential background to understanding the person she was and the emotional circumstances in which she found herself when the Southport murders took place. It also makes the subsequent treatment of her all the more distressing.
One of the most troubling aspects of this is how badly she was let down by the legal system from the outset. She did not receive the proper legal representation she needed. Events moved at extraordinary speed, and her remand in custody made it extremely difficult to find a suitably qualified and sympathetic lawyer. She was shocked when her solicitor appeared to take it for granted that she would plead guilty, warning that if she contested the charge she could face a possible five-year sentence.
The book also raises serious questions about the role of the BBC in publicising the tweet before and during the legal process. Lucy and Adam describe an atmosphere in which the outcome seemed to have been determined in advance, with the case being orchestrated from Westminster. The police’s use of private WhatsApp messages recovered from Lucy’s phone is another disturbing feature. Messages were taken out of context and used to wrongly portray her as racist. The police asked whether she knew Tommy Robinson, apparently simply because she had once replied to one of his X posts.