Edward Colston statue: Four plead not guilty over toppling of monument during Bristol BLM protests

Watch: Four charged over Colston statue damage

Four people accused over the toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol have denied criminal damage.

The bronze statue of the 17th Century merchant was pulled from its plinth and pushed into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests on June 7 last year.

Rhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, Jake Skuse, 32, and Sage Willoughby, 21, are all being prosecuted over the incident.

Appearing in person at Bristol magistrates court this morning, they all entered not guilty pleas and asked for their case to be tried by a jury.

The toppling of the controversial statue happened in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in the US, in the midst of a wave of BLM protests around the UK.

A large group of demonstrators gathered as the statue was felled and daubed with graffiti before being pushed into the water.

Bristol City Council later recovered the statue from the depths of the harbour, saying it would be kept as a museum piece.

At court today, a small group of demonstrators arrived at the courthouse, ignoring the pleas of Avon and Somerset Police for people to stay away due to pandemic restrictions.

Some were arrested, as a line of officers moved to disperse the crowd.

Inside court, District Judge Lynne Graham read the charge to the defendants, who are accused of “damaging the statue of Edward Colston and a plinth belonging to Bristol City Council”.

The court heard the value of the toppled statue is currently unknown.

After the defendants elected a crown court trial, the judge sent the case for a hearing at Bristol Crown Court on February 8.

Graham, Ponsford, Skuse, and Willoughby, who all gave addresses in the Bristol area, were freed on unconditional bail until the next hearing.

At the conclusion of the hearing Willoughby raised a smile from the judge by asking “Is that February 8, 2021?” rather than next year.

Five other people – men aged 18, 20, 29, 33 and 47 – were also investigated over the statue incident and were offered a conditional caution for the offence of causing criminal damage to property valued under £5,000.

Under the conditions of the caution, they had to complete a questionnaire from a history commission set up by Bristol City Council.

They had to pay a fine of £100, which would be sent to Bristol-based charity Nilaari, and take part in two hours of environmental improvement works arranged by Bristol City Council.

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