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Lucy Connolly is preparing to speak publicly for the first time after spending nine months behind bars for inciting racial hatred in the aftermath of the Southport attack. The 42-year-old former childminder was released from HMP Peterborough on Thursday and is reportedly planning to do limited media interviews a day after walking free. She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing "threatening or abusive" written material on X after Axel Rudakubana launched a deadly knife attack at a children's dance class in Southport.

In a since-deleted post, she said: "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." Her imprisonment sparked a major row over freedom of speech, with some criticising her sentence as excessive and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage describing it as a "symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain".

According to the Daily Mail, Ms Connolly spent her first day of freedom with her husband, daughter, and parents and was pictured walking her dogs on Thursday evening.

The wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly was ordered to serve 40% of her 18-month sentence in October before being released on licence.

Mr Connolly broke his silence following her release on Thursday, revealing that she had fared "relatively well" behind bars but that the jail sentence had taken its toll on their 12-year-old daughter.

"Well done to Starmer for making it so difficult for a girl of 12," he said, as per The Sun. "Let's all give him a pat on the back.

"Our focus will be to try to sort our lives out and for my wife to reconnect with our daughter."

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also criticised the handling of Ms Connolly's case, suggesting the 42-year-old's sentence was "harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting".

However, Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended the justice system when asked what he thought of the Court of Appeal's dismissal of an application against her jail term in May.

"Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country," he told MPs during Prime Minister's Questions.

"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."