Protesters accused of toppling a statue of Edward Colston and dumping it in Bristol harbour were caught on camera carrying ropes in a rucksack and high-fiving each other after it fell, a court was told yesterday.
Jake Skuse, 33, Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, are on trial at Bristol crown court after denying criminal damage.
The bronze memorial to the 17th-century slave merchant was pulled down during a Black Lives Matter protest on June 7 last year and rolled into the harbour. It was recovered by Bristol city council and has gone on temporary display in the city’s M Shed museum.
William Hughes QC, for the prosecution, said the four defendants, together with “others unknown”, had caused damage to the statue and plinth without lawful excuse.
Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby are accused of pulling the statue down and Skuse is accused of orchestrating its rolling towards the harbour. The jury was told that an estimated £3,750 of damage was done to the statue — including the loss of its staff and a coat tail — but the council had decided not to restore it. A further £350 of damage was done to the railings of Pero’s Bridge.
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The jury was shown video of Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby allegedly passing ropes to one another to place around the statue’s neck. There were cheers from the packed public gallery of the court when video of the moment the statue was toppled was shown.
People said to be Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby can be seen high-fiving each other before putting the ropes in a rucksack and leaving the scene about four minutes after the statue falls. Referring to the ropes, Hughes said: “You may think that is suggestive of pre-planning the statue toppling.”
Skuse is accused of passing more ropes around the statue’s neck and feet “to assist in its removal from the scene”.
Hughes said that about 10,000 people had been at the Black Lives Matter march, and police described it as “friendly, engaging and very much a community event with an emphasis on coming together to make a change”. He said that a small group peeled off and congregated around the statue, which was erected in 1895, after the majority of the crowd had passed by. “It was pulled down by members of the small group who include the first three defendants — Ms Graham, Mr Ponsford and Mr Willoughby,” Hughes said. “After it was toppled it was daubed with paint, spat on and struck with implements, and . . . rolled through the city centre and thrown in the harbour at Pero’s Bridge.”
Hughes told the jury that Colston’s identity was “wholly irrelevant” to the matters they had to decide in the case. “The prosecution accept that Edward Colston was and remains a divisive figure among the community of Bristol and beyond,” he said. “It is common ground that he was a slaver and much of his fortune was built on the slave trade, and in later life he was something of a philanthropist. This prosecution is not about the justification of the vilification of him but for the defence this position is quite the contrary.”
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Skuse, Graham and Willoughby, of Bristol, and Ponsford, of Bishopstoke, Hampshire, are on unconditional bail.
The trial continues.