In the dock, 4 activists who toppled statue of Colston
I pulled down memorial during BLM protest to prove I wasn’t a racist, accused told police
A WOMAN accused of toppling a statue of slave trader Edward Colston during a Black Lives Matter protest said it was a bid to show she wasn’t racist, a court heard yesterday.
Rhian Graham, 30, made the comment when interviewed by police over the damage to the 19th-century bronze memorial in Bristol on June 7 last year.
Graham, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, helped to pull the statue from its plinth in the city centre, the city’s crown court was told. It was then daubed with paint, spat on, and rolled 570 yards through the streets before being dumped in the city’s harbour. A fourth defendant, Jake Skuse, 33, was accused of helping to roll the statue.
A small group targeted the Colston statue after nearly 10,000 peaceful protesters had walked past it.
Willoughby tied a rope around the neck of the statue, one of two used to pull it down, jurors heard. CCTV footage played to the court showed Ponsford and Graham pulling on the ropes as the statue fell to the pavement.
Judge Peter Blair QC, the Recorder of Bristol, reprimanded the public gallery after cheers, applause and whistling rang out as the footage was played in court.
Those watching the trial later opted to make silent ‘jazz hand’ waves as they celebrated the statue being dumped in the harbour.
William Hughes QC, for the prosecution, told the jury: ‘After the vast majority of those protesting had passed it, a small number of individuals congregated at the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol city centre.
‘After it had been toppled it was daubed with paint, spat on and struck with implements. This was not part of the peaceful Black Lives Matter march but an unlawful criminal act.’
The cost of the damage to the statue was estimated at £3,750.
Graham, of Bristol, told police: ‘The Edward Colston statue being there in the first place is a massive offence to many, many people living in Bristol.
‘By it being there I am forced, as a citizen of Bristol, to say I’m not racist, but I allow a statue of a slave trader to be venerated in my city.
‘I accept that I helped cause damage to the statue, but whether it is criminal is up for debate.’
All four defendants deny criminal damage.
The trial continues.
‘A massive offence to many’