4 arrested at trial of slave trader statue protesters
Crowd defies Covid rules at court
POLICE arrested four people yesterday – as four more appeared in court accused of toppling the statue of a 17th-century slave trader.
Protesters had been warned not to gather at Bristol magistrates court because of Covid restrictions and instead attend an online event.
But a small crowd turned up person to support the defendants.
Jake Skuse, 36, Rhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, and Sage Willoughby, 21, were arrested last month after the 18ft bronze of Edward Colston was pushed into Bristol Harbour during a Black Lives Matter protest in June.
The statue, later recovered from the water by council workers, sustained an estimated £3,750 worth of damage.
All four pleaded not guilty to criminal damage. Willoughby, Skuse and Graham, of Bristol, and Ponsford, from Bishopstoke, Hants, will now appear at Bristol crown court on February 8. After in the hearing, Hodge Jones & Allen solicitors, representing three of the defendants, said: “We are committed to defending them and their right to a fair trial in this important case.”
Outside court two men, aged 43 and 68, and two women, aged 59 and 60, were arrested for refusing to disperse.
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said: “In light of the pandemic, organisers urged people to gather online and more than 150 people joined a video call this morning.
“However a small number chose to turn up in person – resulting in our officers taking enforcement action when they refused to leave.
“We’d like to thank those who dialled into the online event for recognising the gravity of the health crisis.”
Colston’s statue was put up in Bristol in 1895 to commemorate his philanthropic work. But the Tory MP was also involved in the Atlantic slave trade.