Colston 4 found not guilty of criminal damage
The four have been cleared of criminal damage over the toppling of a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol
Last updated 5th Jan 2022
The verdict is in, on the trial of four people accused of tearing down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.
Although hundreds of people were present, just four - Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, Jake Skuse, 33, and Sage Willoughby, 22 - were charged with criminal damage - they have now been found not guilty.
Today (Wednesday 5th Jan) they were cleared by a jury at Bristol Crown Court after almost three hours of deliberations following a two-week-and-two-day trial.
There were loud cheers from the packed public gallery after the not guilty verdicts were returned.
All four defendants admitted their involvement but denied their actions were criminal, claiming the statue itself had been a hate crime against the people of Bristol.
What happened to the statue?
The memorial to the 17th century merchant was toppled during a march in June 2020, before being dragged and rolled 500m and dumped in the harbour.
It became a defining moment of the wave of protests seen around the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the US, and was even mentioned at Mr Floyd's funeral.
Who was Edward Colston?
The statue and Colston have long been subject to debate in Bristol about how and if he should be celebrated. Colston was known to have made a lot of his money through the slave trade.
The statue's plinth described him as a philanthropist - recognising his monetary donations to build schools, houses for the poor, alms houses, hospitals and Anglican churches in Bristol, London and elsewhere.
Colston followed his father in the family business becoming a sea merchant, initially trading in wine, fruits and textiles, mainly in Spain, Portugal and other European ports.
By 1680, he became involved in the slave trade as a member of the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly on the English trade in African slaves.
He was deputy governor of the company in 1689–90.
The statue is pulled down on 7th June 2020
The 7th June 2020 was meant to be a regular Black Lives Matter protest, arranged following the recent death of George Floyd in the US.
Floyd died after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than 9 minutes. His dying words, "I can't breathe," became a rallying cry around the world, including in Bristol.
Protesters gathered in the city centre, and made their way towards the statue of 17th Century slave trader Edward Colston.
They began to tie ropes around the statue and spray paint it - as well as covering Colston's face, thought to be a reference to how many people traded as slaves were treated at the time Colston was alive.
And then, the statue was pulled down, clanging on to the pavement below.
A few members of the crowd then knelt on Colston's neck - another reference, this time to the murder of George Floyd.
The statue is dragged through the streets and pushed into Bristol Harbour
After the statue of Colston was toppled, it was rolled through the city centre - the metal crashing against the pavement as it went, to the cheers of those in the crowd.
It was then hoisted over the top of the railings along the waterfront of Bristol Harbour, and pushed in.
Protesters place their placards around the area of where the Edward Colston Statue once stood.
Bristol City Council retrieved it from the Harbour in the days that followed, announcing it would be taken into temporary storage, preserved and then put on display at M Shed, along with the hundreds of placards and details from the protest to mark what had happened.
Banksy designs T-shirts to raise funds for the 'Colston 4'
The 'Colston 4' - Rhian Graham, 29, Jake Skuse, 36 and Sage Willoughby, 21 all from Bristol and Milo Ponsford, 25 from Hampshire are accused of criminal damage.
All four defendants have always denied the charge.
Banksy took to Instagram to show the shirt design with the caption 'all proceeds to the defendants so they can go for a pint'.
Thousands of people queued up for the street artists limited edition T-shirts.
'Colston 4' Trial starts - 13TH DECEMBER 2021
The trial of the 'Colston 4' starts.
Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, Jake Skuse, 33, and Sage Willoughby, 22 appear for the first time a Bristol Crown Court.
A few hundred people turned up outside the court to support the four defendants.
The trial was expected to last 2 weeks, but due to the Christmas holidays the trial was adjourned on 23rd December 2021.
The trial then resumed on 4th January 2022 with the verdict coming in on the 5th Jan all four declared not guilty of criminal damage.