Colston vandal found not guilty despite toppling Bristol statue claims artwork is now worth £300,000 thanks to her protest - 50 times its original value
- Memorial to slave trader Edward Colston was torn down during protests in 2020
- Rhian Graham was charged along with three co-defendants of criminal damage
- But the 'Colston Four' were found not guilty Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday
- She claims since the statue's toppling it has increased in value to £300,000 - and has suggested it be sold
One of the 'Colston Four' cleared of damaging the Bristol slave trader's statue has said it could now be worth £300,000 - 50 times its value before it was toppled.
Rhian Graham and three co-defendants were found not guilty of causing criminal damage to Edward Colston's memorial at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday.
The monument to the 17th Century figure was pulled down and thrown into Bristol's harbour during Black Lives Matter protests last June.
But despite its ordeal, Graham, 30, said the statue had seen a 'huge increase' in value.
'[An art valuer] valued the statue, pre toppling, at around £6,000,' she told Sky News.
Rhian Graham, one of the 'Colston Four' defendants found not guilty of causing criminal damage to Edward Colston's statue at Bristol Crown Court said it had seen a 'huge increase' in value since its toppling
Ms Graham, along with co-defendants Milo Ponsford, 26, Sage Willoughby, 22, and Jake Skuse, 33, were cleared of all criminal damage charges yesterday after requesting that the trial be heard in front of a jury
A 'post toppling' valuation obtained by their defence team suggests that it's value 'at auction, is around £150,000 if not up to £300,000, which is a huge increase.'
She added: 'In that sense, have we really damaged it?'
Ms Graham, along with co-defendants Milo Ponsford, 26, Sage Willoughby, 22, and Jake Skuse, 33, were cleared of all criminal damage charges yesterday after requesting that the trial be heard in front of a jury.
Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby were accused of helping pull down the monument, while Skuse allegedly orchestrated it being rolled to the water and thrown in.
Speaking after the verdict was given, Ms Graham admitted the group were 'ecstatic' at the jury's decision and claimed that they had 'illuminated history' by toppling the statue.
She now believes that the artwork, which has been on display in a museum since it was fished from the harbour, should be sold 'to a private collector'.
Photos from outside the courtroom show Sage Willoughby, Jake Skuse, Milo Ponsford and Rhian Graham (from left to right) celebrating after receiving a not guilty verdict at Bristol Crown Court, on January 05, 2022 in Bristol, England
After a few days at the bottom of the harbour last year, Colston's statue was retrieved by city authorities and put into storage. Pictured: The statue is thrown into the harbour in June 2020
The proceeds of any sale could then be put towards 'a memorial or acknowledgment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade', Graham suggested.
Edward Colston has long been a subject of heated debate in Bristol, where he donated lavishly to charitable causes, using the fortune he made investing in the slave-trading Royal African Company.
After a few days at the bottom of the harbour last year, his statue was retrieved by city authorities and put into storage.
It had been on public display at Bristol's M Shed museum since the summer but officials announced last week it would be put back into storage from January 3.
One of Avon and Somerset's most senior police officers, Chief Superintendent Liz Hughes, said in the wake of the verdict: 'I absolutely respect the decision of the jury today and feel that we have done our best to present that evidence. That is the decision that they have made.
'This case has provoked a lot of dialogue in the city around equality and I hope that there are positive moves that arise from these conversations,' she said, but added that 'in the eyes of the law, there was always a clear offence of criminal damage in our investigation.'
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