It was 10.18am on Thursday morning when the gates of HMP Peterborough swung open, a taxi drove out past the waiting press pack and one of Britain’s most famous prisoners was free. Lucy Connolly had been behind bars for 380 days for a nasty tweet posted in anger on the night of the Southport massacre of little girls.

Lucy Connolly, from Northampton, was released on Thursday after serving 40% of her 31-month prison sentence. The 42-year-old wife of a Tory councillor had called for people to "set fire" to hotels housing asylum seekers in the wake of the Southport attack in July 2024.