Four charged over Colston statue damage to be tried in crown court

London, January 28 (RHC)-- Four people charged with criminal damage over the toppling of the statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol have opted to be tried before a judge and jury.  The four -- aged between 21 and 36 -- appeared at Bristol magistrates court amid tight security after police warned demonstrators would be breaching lockdown restrictions if they gathered outside the court.

A number of people were detained outside or spoken to by police while scores of other supporters of the “Colston Four” took part in a virtual protest, which was disrupted when someone “hijacked” the feed and digitally scrawled the N-word across a speaker’s face.

Rhian Graham, 29, Jake Skuse, 36, and Sage Willoughby, 21, all from Bristol, and Milo Ponsford, 25, from Bishopstoke, Hampshire, are accused of “with each other and others unknown without lawful excuse” damaging the statue and plinth.

The bronze memorial to the 17th-century slave merchant was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7th last year, before being dumped in Bristol Harbour.  It was recovered from the water by Bristol city council.

During the 15-minute hearing, the district judge Lynne Matthews said the case could be dealt with in a magistrates court but all four exercised their right for the case to be heard in a crown court.  The four were given unconditional bail and told to appear before Bristol crown court on 8 February.

Speaking ahead of the court hearing, a spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset police said anyone planning to attend to protest against the case would be breaking the law.  Insp Rob Cheeseman said: “We fully recognise the important right to freedom of expression and right to assemble but there is a deadly virus which has killed more than 90,000 people in the UK which simply cannot be ignored.”

A virtual demonstration was disrupted during a speech by Dr Shawn Sobers, an academic. He later tweeted: “As the video of my speech in solidarity with the #colston4 was playing, some racist hijacked the event and wrote the N-word in red across my face.  Racists won’t stop us from the work of anti-racism. They will never stop me from knowing I’m a proud African man and no one’s N!”

Outside court one woman wrote “Support the Colston four” on a wall while a man held a plaque showing the words – “Slave trade, now arms trade. Bristol… wake up!”

After the court hearing, Hodge Jones & Allen solicitors, which represents three of the four defendants, said: “We will fight these criminal charges vigorously. We are committed to defending them and their right to a fair trial in this important case.”