Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice has expressed outrage following a prison visit to Lucy Connolly, warning that the Northamptonshire childminder is "a political prisoner".
Speaking to GB News after visiting HMP Peterborough, Tice revealed disturbing details about the incarcerated mother's conditions.
The Boston & Skegness MP described finding Connolly covered in bruises following what he characterised as "politically motivated" mistreatment.
She was unexpectedly moved to a wing housing the most violent prisoners, where she faces 23-hour-a-day lockdown in conditions Tice called "inexplicable" for someone with an "immaculate record in prison".
Richard TIce went to visit the mother in prison
GB NEWS
The violent incident occurred when Connolly questioned being moved to a different wing.
"Before she knew it, several officers surrounded her, along with a nurse, and she was physically and violently manhandled to the ground in what they call a 'bend-up' where hands are forced behind your back and you're bent forward," Tice claimed.
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He described how she was "handcuffed very tightly and then physically dragged up three flights of stairs to the new wing, where she was thrown into what is effectively solitary confinement".
She allegedly received no food for the remainder of that day. The incident left visible marks, with the Reform MP noting: "Five days later, I could still see clear stress marks and bruises on her wrists from the handcuffs."
"She was horrified. And when she asked, 'Why am I going there?' that was logged as a complaint. Apparently, the first she's ever made," he explained.
Tice also revealed that prison officers used "the highest level of restraint and force they can use", despite there being two lower levels available.
"The officers reportedly struggled to remove them because they were so tight," he said of the handcuffs.
Tice explained: "That was the highest level of restraint and force they can use and there are two lower levels. Lucy, by all accounts, has a good track record in prison. This seems to be extraordinary maltreatment, without provocation, and I was absolutely horrified.
"She’s lodged a complaint. I spoke to the head of security, and all officers wear body cams which I would expect to have been triggered during the incident. There’s also CCTV footage, as you'd expect in a prison.
"I’ve had an assurance from the head of security that he will review all the footage and come to a view in a transparent way. I trust the cameras were working so we can get a proper response to these very serious allegations."
GB News host Martin Daubney asked: "Why do you think someone with the record you describe precipitate such a reaction?"
Lucy Connolly was jailed for 31 months for a tweet about last year's Southport attacksPA Tice replied: "I genuinely fear she is essentially a political prisoner, held effectively at the behest indirectly of the Prime Minister. It’s so inexplicable. If you can’t understand something, you’ve got to ask what else is going on?
"I told her to be very, very careful. Because if they’re trying to provoke a reaction, just so they can say, 'There you are, she’s violent,' that could be the game.
"I even said, be alert in case they try to plant drugs on her to portray her as a bad person. But clearly, from her track record, that’s not the case. By all accounts, she has been a model prisoner."
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Connolly is serving an 18-month sentence following a social media post made in the wake of the Southport attacks, in which three young girls were killed. She was sentenced to 31 months but is expected to serve 18 months.
Tice revealed he will introduce "Lucy's Law" to Parliament tomorrow as a 10-minute rule motion. The bill would allow members of the public to petition for reviews of individual sentences they believe are either too harsh or too lenient.
"She regrets that stupid, offensive, vile tweet. She apologised for it and took it down within four hours," Tice told GB News.
He emphasised that Connolly is "not someone who is a threat to society or who should be incarcerated".
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