Wife Of Uk Councillor Arrested Over Calls To Burn Hotels Housing Migrants – reports

MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Bernama-Sputnik) -- UK police have arrested Lucy Connolly, the wife of a Conservative councillor, over a social media post calling for burning hotels housing migrants, reported Sputnik on Wednesday, citing The Independent daily. 

Lucy, the wife of Raymond Connolly, the vice chair of the adult social care committee at West Northamptonshire Council, was arrested late Tuesday following reports of a hate crime, according to local police.

She took to the X social network in the wake of recent far-right protests that broke out across the country after unconfirmed reports suggested that the perpetrator in a stabbing attack in the UK city of Southport on July 29 was a refugee. The attacker was later identified as a Welsh-born boy of Rwandan descent.

The post was published immediately after the attack, but Connolly later deleted it and apologised, saying that she had acted based on false information, the newspaper said. She reportedly remains in police custody.

Three children died and several others were injured in the stabbing at a children's dance club in Southport last week. Police arrested a 17-year-old boy and charged him with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. The attack is not being treated as an act of terrorism.

On Tuesday, police sources told Sky News that over 400 people had been arrested in connection with the protests. UK law enforcement agencies have accused the far-right English Defence League (EDL) of fuelling the protests, while some of the country's media reported that Russia had been behind the riots. The Russian embassy in London strongly rejected the allegations.

-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK