A teacher branded ‘Islamophobic’ has been sacked after describing Lucy Connolly’s prison sentence as an example of two-tier policing.
Simon Pearson, a teacher at Preston College, has said he fell victim to an unfair ‘witch hunt’ which resulted in his dismissal from his position at Preston College.
The 56-year-old, working as an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher at the higher education institution, was removed following an internal investigation.
Connolly, wife of a Tory councillor, was given a 31-month sentence in October after pleading guilty to a charge of inciting racial hatred in a social media post following last year’s Southport riots.
The post, which the 42-year-old later deleted, said: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the b******* for all I care… if that makes me racist so be it.’
In a Facebook post, Mr Pearson described Connolly’s online comments as ‘obviously wrong’, but said that he believed her prison sentence was a ‘two tier policy from the top down’ and that she ‘should not have been jailed’,The Telegraph has reported.
An internal investigation was launched following a complaint submitted by a Muslim representative of the National Education Union (NEU) at the school who alleged that the post was ‘Islamophobic’ and ‘racially discriminatory’.
Mr Pearson said that following the raised concern, he apologised and also claimed to have provided evidence of his support for both Muslim students and asylum seekers.
However, the college’s investigation deemed the posts a violation of its policies, damaging of professional relationships and likely to bring the college’s reputation into disrepute.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Pearson said he had been left ‘appalled’ by the decision, particularly given his life-long commitment to helping to support and educate students ‘from all walks of life’.
Describing his dismissal as a ‘grave injustice’, he added: ‘As soon as I was branded ‘Islamophobic’ for expressing concern about violent crime, I became a marked man.
‘It was clear that I had to be found guilty by the college, it became a witch hunt, and I had to be eliminated no matter what.’
Mr Pearson, who has now launched legal action at an employment tribunal, has claimed wrongful dismissal, unfair dismissal, harassment and discrimination under the Equality Act of 2010.
Lord Young of Acton, founder of the Free Speech Union, told The Telegraph that the decision to sack Mr Pearson was ‘striking’, criticising the NEU for ‘siding with management and actively trying to get workers sacked’.
A spokesperson for The Christian Legal Centre, supporting Mr Pearson, described the case as an indication of the ‘dangerous consequences of the vague and weaponised use of the term ‘Islamophobia’.
They added: ‘In a free and democratic society, we must be able to discuss public events and express concern about violence and injustice without fear of losing our livelihoods.
‘The definition of Islamophobia is being used to silence legitimate speech and punish those who dare to speak out. We stand firmly behind this teacher and his right to freedom of expression.’
Connolly, of Northampton, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court in October and imprisoned at HMP Drake Hall, Staffordshire after admitting to making her ‘racist’ post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The 42-year-old former childminder, wife of Tory councillor Ray Connolly, lost her 19-month-old son, Harry, in 2011.
With around 9,000 followers on X at the time, Connolly’s message was reposted 940 times and viewed 310,000 times before she deleted it around three and a half hours later.
The mother-of-one was arrested on August 6 last year, by which point she had deleted her social media account. But other messages which included other condemning remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone.
Her X post was made just hours after killer Axel Rudakubana murdered three young girls and attempted to murder 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on July 29, sparking nationwide unrest.
A number of public figures and politicians have spoken out since Connolly was handed her sentence, claiming that she is a victim of ‘two-tier justice’.
Connolly’s husband, Raymond, a former West Northamptonshire Conservative councillor, said on the day she lost her appeal: ‘Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood says she will release 40,000 prisoners, some of them dangerous men on tag.
‘Lucy has not been allowed out on tag and she has been denied leave to see our child who is struggling.
‘Today, the court had the opportunity to reduce her cruelly long and disproportionate sentence, but they refused. That feels like two-tier justice.
‘The British people know all this is not right. They have given an amazing £81,000 so far to Lucy’s crowd-funder. Despite today’s upsetting setback, Lucy gets courage from everyone’s kind support.’
Mr Connolly had been a Tory West Northamptonshire district councillor but lost his seat in May. He remains on the town council.
Connolly’s supporters, including the Free Speech Union, argue that – as a woman with significant mitigating factors including the lack of previous convictions, a young daughter at home and the death of her baby son – Connolly’s 285 days in custody already represent punishment enough.
Adelle Healy, 42, who has been friends with Connolly for nine years, previously told the Daily Mail: ‘Lucy was horrified and heartbroken that three little girls had been murdered. She let her emotions take over and wrote something that she definitely shouldn’t have done but she has paid a very dear price.
‘She should not be behind bars for a tweet. I think it’s ludicrous that it’s got to this point.’
In May, Connolly lost an appeal to shorten her 31-month sentence despite telling the Court of Appeal in London that she ‘never’ intended to incite violence and did not realise that pleading guilty would mean she accepted that she had.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, a friend of Connolly shared a post to X saying that she believed Connolly would be ‘with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand’ this time next month, it expected that she could be released as early as August 21.
The pal, who describes herself as a ‘”conspiracy” blonde’, said: ‘Missed a call whilst working today and not spoke to her for 2 weeks now… *HOWEVER* Happy to say that this time next month Lucy will be with a glass of Whispering Angel in-hand – And more importantly her family AT HOME.’
She concluded the post with, ‘What a year it’s been…’
The Southport atrocity sparked nationwide unrest, with several people – including Connolly – jailed as a result.
Connolly’s case received international interest with the White House saying in May it was ‘monitoring’ Connolly’s case.
The length of her sentence, which has seen her locked up alongside career crooks, has drawn bitter criticism from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservative Party, as well as a raft of free speech advocates for being unduly harsh.
Reform’s Richard Tice even previously proposed a bill – named ‘Lucy’s Bill’ – which would allow people to mount mass appeals against punishments they deem to be too severe or lenient.
A spokesperson for the NEU said: ‘The management of Preston College reached a decision to dismiss the teacher following disciplinary procedures.
‘The NEU was not directly involved in these processes and it will be for the Employment Tribunal to consider the fairness of the dismissal if and when the claim reaches a hearing.’
Preston College and the Christian Legal Centre have both been approached for comment.
