Four charged with toppling Colston statue plead not guilty
They will now appear at Crown Court in February
Last updated 25th Jan 2021
Four people charged with helping pull down the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol have pleaded not guilty to causing criminal damage.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford who's 25, 32-year-old Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby who's 21 all appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court this morning.
They will now be tried at Bristol Crown Court, with the next hearing scheduled for 8 February.
The statue of Colston, who was a prominent slave trader, was forcibly removed by Black Lives Matter protestors in June and thrown into the harbour.
More than 150 people chose to protest today in support of the quartet, largely online to reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus.
Four arrests were made outside the court though for attending an unlawful protest and refusing to disperse.
The police say they are two men aged 43 and 68 and two women aged 59 and 60.
They have thanked those who chose to protest online instead.