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

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

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

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.' 

Who are the four protesters who toppled the statue of slave trader Edward Colston? 

Ms Graham, from Bristol, works as a stage manager in the theatre industry

Ms Graham, from Bristol, works as a stage manager in the theatre industry

Rhian Graham, 30

Ms Graham, from Bristol, works as a stage manager in the theatre industry. 

In a page on jobs website Mandy.com, she says she has been 'singing and dancing' she she was a child and more recently performed as an 'aerial hoop artist'. 

She holds a degree in Arts and Event Management from Arts University Bournemouth.

Ms Graham said during her trial that before helping to tear down the statue of Colston, she had signed petitions calling for it to be removed. 

She claimed she did not originally have a background in politics or activism but, from 2019, had 'started to make more friends who had more of a passion for history, politics and equality.'

'I felt a bit embarrassed about my own knowledge and felt I needed to try and engage more with the world.' 

Ponsford, 26, works as a carpenter and lives in a motorhome in Bristol

Ponsford, 26, works as a carpenter and lives in a motorhome in Bristol

Milo Ponsford, 26

Ponsford, 26, works as a carpenter and lives in a motorhome in Bristol. 

During the trial at Bristol Crown Court, he said he was 'usually a reserved and professional individual.'

The carpenter supplied one of the two ropes which were used on June 7 to haul the statue of Colston off its plinth. 

He was later seen jumping on the statue and trying to pull Colston's staff away.  

Ponsford, 26, works as a carpenter and lives in a motorhome in Bristol

Ponsford, 26, works as a carpenter and lives in a motorhome in Bristol

Sage Willoughby, 22

Sage Willoughby, 22

Willoughby, also from Bristol, is the youngest of the group of four who tore down the statue. 

Unlike Ponsford, who was arrested at his motorhome after the statue was toppled, Willoughby attended a police interview voluntarily. 

Jurors heard at the trial at Bristol Crown Court that Willoughby, a keen climber, had tied a rope around the neck of the statue, before Ponsford and Graham pulled on the ropes. 

Willoughby said in court that he had been signing petitions to have the statue removed 'since he was 11 years old' and added that its toppling of the statue had been an 'act of love, not violence'. 

He said he had grown up in the St Pauls area of Bristol, which has a large Afro-Caribbean population.

As a result, he said he believed having the statue of Colston in the city was an 'insult' and he would continue to believe that whatever the outcome of this [trial].'  

Skuse, also from Bristol, did not take part in the toppling of the statue but was charged with criminal damage after helping to roll it to Bristol's harbour, where it was dropped in the water

Skuse, also from Bristol, did not take part in the toppling of the statue but was charged with criminal damage after helping to roll it to Bristol's harbour, where it was dropped in the water

Jake Skuse, 33

Skuse, also from Bristol, did not take part in the toppling of the statue but was charged with criminal damage after helping to roll it to Bristol's harbour, where it was dropped in the water.

During his trial, he said he had attempted to 'sentence the statue to his death' before tossing it into the harbour.  

He claimed to have not seen the initial toppling but arrived later and got carried away with the 'hype' of the moment. 

Skuse said he was inspired to throw the statue in the water after his 'foot was getting sore' from kicking the solid bronze monument.    

However, the activist admitted that his knowledge of Colston beforehand had been limited to conversations he had had with others and reading the plaque on the statue's plinth.

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