Lucy Connolly: Northampton childminder married to Tory councillor pleads guilty to stirring up racial hatred
The wife of a Tory councillor has pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred following the Southport stabbings
Childminder Lucy Connolly, appearing via videolink from HMP Peterborough, admitted making the post about asylum seekers at Northampton Crown Court after she was previously arrested and re-arrested in the first half of August.
She published a post on her X account, which she later deleted, which read: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f*****g hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.”
Connolly wrote the post on the day of the knife attack in Southport, Merseyside, when a group of children attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class were attacked.
False information claiming the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker spread online and led to riots across the UK.
Three young girls were killed in the attack on 29 July, while eight other children and two adults were injured.
Rioting broke out in Southport (pictured) then across the UK after the fatal stabbing of three girls. Pic: PA
Connolly, from Northampton, later apologised for acting on “false and malicious” information and appeared to have subsequently deleted her X account.
She is the wife of Conservative West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly.
Speaking outside the court, he said he was “relieved” it was over as it had been “traumatic” for his wife and three children.
Mr Connolly said she was “an upset housewife” and “just a middle aged mother” who got dragged into the situation by misinformation spreading online.
“The stuff I hear is not really Lucy, she’s probably the opposite of what she’s having to admit to but she knows she’s overstepped the mark and there’s consequences for it,” he said.
“Hopefully she’ll be able to learn from this and move on with her life.”
Mr Connolly added that their son had died so when his wife sees any child get harmed “she will kick off”.
And he said she feels the “Tory tag” is unfair but “she will cope with whatever they throw at her, she’s got strong resilience, she’ll come back a bigger person”.
Their son, Harry, died aged 19 months in 2012 from dehydration after a series of basic errors by NHS medics, an inquest found.
His parents took the toddler to hospital with severe diarrhoea and vomiting, where he was wrongly diagnosed with a stomach upset and sent home before they returned two days later and medical staff turned them away.
Then a GP failed to diagnose the real problem and Mr Connolly woke up at 4am to Harry not breathing.
Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice Dasilva Aguiar and Bebe King were killed in the attack. Pic: Merseyside Police
People accused of violence or inciting violence during the riots have been fast tracked through the justice system.
In Manchester, the sentencing of a 12-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, twice involved in the violence was adjourned because his mother has gone on holiday to Ibiza.
District Judge Joanne Hirst told Manchester Magistrates’ Court she was “frankly astonished” that the boy’s mother had decided to fly abroad for a five-day sunshine break, with her son due in court having admitted two counts of violent disorder.
The mother has been issued with a parental summons to appear before the court when the judge passes sentence on 11 September.
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The boy, who was accompanied by his uncle, earlier admitted being part of a mob that attacked a bus outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester on 31 July.
Days later he was part of a group filmed kicking the windows of a vape shop and throwing a missile at a police van.
United States Senator Jon Ossoff expressed support for impeaching President Donald Trump during an April 25 town hall, citing the President’s plan to host a private dinner for top Official Trump memecoin holders.
“I mean, I saw just 48 hours ago, he is granting audiences to people who buy his meme coin,” said Ossoff, a Democrat, according to a report by NBC News.
“When the sitting president of the United States is selling access for what are effectively payments directly to him. There is no question that that rises to the level of an impeachable offense.”
Senator Ossoff said he “strongly” supports impeachment proceedings during a town hall in the state of Georgia, where he is running for reelection to the Senate.
The Senator added that an impeachment is unlikely unless the Democratic Party gains control of Congress during the US midterm elections in 2026. Trump’s own Republican Party currently has a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Related: US lawmaker says TRUMP coin could risk national security
Conflicts of interest
On April 23, the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin’s website announced plans for Trump to host an exclusive dinner at his Washington, DC golf club with the top 220 TRUMP holders.
The website subsequently posted a leaderboard tracking top TRUMP wallets and a link to register for the event. The TRUMP token’s price has gained more than 50% since the announcement, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The specific guest list is unclear, but the memecoin’s website states that applicants must pass a background check, “can not be from a [Know Your Customer] watchlist country,” and cannot bring any additional guests.
On April 25, the team behind TRUMP denied social media rumors that TRUMP holders need at least $300,000 to participate in an upcoming dinner with the president.
“People have been incorrectly quoting #220 on the block explorer as the cutoff. That’s wrong because it includes things like locked tokens, exchanges, market makers, and those who are not participating. Instead, you should only be going off the leaderboard,” they wrote.
Legal experts told Cointelegraph that Trump’s cryptocurrency ventures, including the TRUMP memecoin and Trump-affiliated decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol World Liberty Financial, raise significant concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
“Within just a couple of days of him taking office, he’s signed a number of executive orders that are significantly going to affect the way that our crypto and digital assets industry works,” Charlyn Ho of law firm Rikka told Cointelegraph in February.
“So if he has a personal pecuniary benefit arising from his own policies, that’s a conflict of interest.”
Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions
Crypto investor sentiment has seen a significant recovery from global tariff concerns, but analysts warn that the market’s structural weaknesses may still result in downside momentum during periods of weekend illiquidity.
Risk appetite appeared to return among crypto investors this week after US President Donald Trump adopted a softer tone, saying that import tariffs on Chinese goods may “come down substantially.”
However, the improved investor sentiment “does not guarantee that Bitcoin will avoid volatility over the weekend,” analysts from Bitfinex exchange told Cointelegraph:
“Sentiment improvements reduce fragility, but they do not eliminate structural risks like thin weekend liquidity.”
“Historically, weekends remain vulnerable to sharp moves — especially when open interest is high and market depth is low,” the analysts said, adding that unexpected macroeconomic news can still increase volatility during low liquidity periods.
Related: Trump fought the bond market, the bond market won: Saifedean Ammous
Bitcoin (BTC) staged a near 11% recovery during the past week, but its rally has previously been limited by Sunday liquidity dynamics.
Bitcoin fell below $75,000 on Sunday, April 6, despite initially decoupling from the US stock market’s $3.5 trillion drop on April 4 after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that Trump’s tariffs may affect the economy and raise inflation.
The correction was exacerbated by the lack of weekend liquidity and the fact that Bitcoin was the only large liquid asset available for de-risking, industry watchers told Cointelegraph.
Related: US banks are ‘free to begin supporting Bitcoin’ — Michael Saylor
“While improved sentiment creates a more stable foundation, cryptocurrency markets are still susceptible to rapid movements during periods of reduced trading volume,” according to Marcin Kazmierczak, co-founder and chief operating officer of RedStone blockchain oracle firm.
“The sentiment recovery provides some cushioning, but traders should remain cautious as weekend liquidity constraints can still amplify price movements regardless of the current market mood,” he told Cointelegraph.
Crypto investors may have “maxed out on tariff-related fears”
Cryptocurrency markets may have priced in the full extent of tariff-related concerns, according to Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at crypto intelligence platform Nansen.
“It feels like we’ve maxed out on tariff-related fear,” she told Cointelegraph, adding:
“While many remain uncertain about where things are headed over the next month or so, it also seems like markets were just waiting for the slightest signal that we’re back in the game.”
“Whether the rally is sustainable depends on whether we can break through previous resistance levels, at least in isolation. It could have legs, as markets now seem to believe there’s a ‘Trump put’ under equities, the US dollar and US Treasurys,” Barthere added, warning of more potential volatility amid the upcoming negotiations.
Nansen previously predicted a 70% chance that crypto markets will bottom and start a recovery by June, but highlighted that the timing will depend on the outcome of tariff negotiations.
The tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach a trade agreement with China, which may be the “big prize” for Trump’s administration, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
Magazine: Bitcoin’s odds of June highs, SOL’s $485M outflows, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 2 – 8
Over $4 trillion worth of real estate could be tokenized on blockchain networks during the next decade, potentially offering investors greater access to property ownership opportunities, according to a new report.
The Deloitte Center for Financial Services predicts that over $4 trillion worth of real estate may be tokenized by 2035, up from less than $300 billion in 2024. The report, published April 24, estimates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 27%.
The $4 trillion of tokenized property is predicted to stem from the benefits of blockchain-based assets, as well as a structural shift across real estate and property ownership.
“Real estate itself is undergoing transformation. Post-pandemic work-from-home trends, climate risk, and digitization have reshaped property fundamentals,” according to Chris Yin, co-founder of Plume Network, a blockchain built for real-world assets (RWAs).
“Office buildings are being repurposed into AI data centers, logistics hubs and energy-efficient residential communities,” Yin told Cointelegraph.
“Investors want targeted access to these modern use cases, and tokenization enables programmable, customizable exposure to such evolving asset profiles,” he said.
Related: Blockchain needs regulation, scalability to close AI hiring gap
The uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs has boosted investor interest in the RWA tokenization sector, which involves minting financial products and tangible assets on a blockchain.
Both stablecoins and RWAs have attracted significant capital as safe-haven assets amid the global trade concerns, Juan Pellicer, senior research analyst at IntoTheBlock, told Cointelegraph.
The tariff concerns also led tokenized gold volume to surpass $1 billion in trading volume on April 10, its highest level since March 2023 when a US banking crisis saw the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank
Related: US banks are ‘free to begin supporting Bitcoin’ — Michael Saylor
Blockchain innovation could drive regulatory clarity
Growing RWA adoption may inspire a more welcoming stance from global regulators, Yin said.
“While regulation is a hurdle, regulation follows usage,” he explained, likening tokenization to Uber’s growth before widespread regulatory acceptance:
“Tokenization is similar — as demand increases, regulatory clarity will follow.”
He added that making tokenized products compliant with a wide range of international regulations is key to unlocking broader market access.
However, some industry watchers are skeptical about the benefits introduced by tokenized real estate.
“I don’t think tokenization should have its eyes directly set on real estate,” said Securitize chief operating officer Michael Sonnenshein at Paris Blockchain Week 2025.
“I’m sure there are all kinds of efficiencies that can be unlocked using blockchain technology to eliminate middlemen, escrow, and all kinds of things in real estate. But I think today, what the onchain economy is demanding are more liquid assets,” he added.
Magazine: Ripple says SEC lawsuit ‘over,’ Trump at DAS, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 16 – 22
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