GB News host Bev Turner has branded Lucy Connolly's appeal dismissal "deeply disturbing", following the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold her prison sentence.
Connolly was jailed last October after posting on social media that hotels housing asylum seekers should be "set on fire".
The Court of Appeal ruled that there was "no arguable basis" that her original sentence was "manifestly excessive" and refused her application to appeal against it.
Discussing the case on GB News, host Bev Turner highlighted a "chilling" factor in Connolly's case, which was heard in court.
Bev Turner hit out at 'chilling' detail revealed in court as Lucy Connolly's appeal was dismissed
Northamptonshire Police / GB News
Bev explained: "What I find really chilling about this is the fact that when she was arrested and the police confiscated her phone, they found other things that she had said in private on WhatsApp exchanges with friends, which were also deemed to be racist. And she was grilled about this in the court.
"They said 'do you think we're being invaded by immigrants?', and she said, 'I believe that we have a massive number of people in the country that are unchecked coming into the country, and I believe that is a national security risk'."
Bev added: "It's almost like what she said in the court they deem as irrelevant compared to private conversations she'd had with friends about immigration on the private WhatsApp messages."
Asking Ben Jones, Director of Case Management at the Free Speech Union if this detail is a "relatively new phenomenon" for courts to look at, Jones responded: "I think what we are seeing increasingly, whether it's from the police or whether it's from employers looking at what people are saying in private WhatsApp chats, we are seeing a disregard for people's privacy and for their right to express views, even unpalatable views in private, in the home or in in a WhatsApp conversation."
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Judge Melbourne Inman KC said Connolly had encouraged 'activity which threatened or endangered life'PADelivering his verdict on the appeal dismissal, Jones expressed "disappointment" in the court's decision on behalf of the Free Speech Union, who is backing Connolly.
Jones told GB News: "It's basically disappointing, and it's hard to know what else to say other than we've supported Lucy for a long time, and this is not the result that we were hoping for.
"It remains the case that the sentence, in our view, is grossly disproportionate. I'd also like to say at this point that the Free Speech Union is contacted by hundreds of people in any month, many of whom are absolutely terrified about what they can and cannot say in this country, they just do not know what the rules are."
When asked by host Andrew Pierce on whether JD Vance's remarks about free speech in Britain are true, Jones agreed, claiming: "I'm afraid he's absolutely right to say that freedom of speech is under attack in Britain.
Bev Turner said the appeal being dismissed is 'deeply disturbing'
GB News
"It's a sustained attack that's been going on for a long time. It's an attack that is not relenting in any way, and unfortunately, we see that a comment around immigration, the scale of immigration, the failure to integrate, discussion of the tensions, which are undeniable and inescapable in modern Britain, is a topic that is being reacted to by the authorities in an increasingly heavy handed way.
"That is what we can read from this result today. It's what we're seeing at the Free Speech Union constantly, that people who want to express their criticism, their concern about what is happening in this country that they are not able to."
The Court of Appeal's judgment was definitive in its rejection of Connolly's appeal. "The application for leave to appeal against sentence therefore fails and is refused," the ruling stated. The court found no merit in the argument that her 31-month sentence was excessive given the nature of her offence
Connolly will now continue to serve her original sentence as handed down at Birmingham Crown Court, with the requirement to complete at least 40 per cent of the term in prison before being eligible for release on licence.
