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 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.

UK riots latest: Anti-racism protests planned across country

She published a now-deleted post on her X account, 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 made 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 Syrian 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.

Connolly later apologised for acting on "false and malicious" information and appeared after to have deleted her X account.

She is the wife of Conservative West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly.

The childminder had been remanded in custody ahead of her Crown Court appearance on Monday.

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow @SkyNews on X or subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.