Colston 4 barrister: ‘The prosecution was not in the public interest in any shape or form’

Following their acquittal, one of the barristers defending the Colston 4 has strongly condemned the prosecution and argued that the case should never have even gone to court.

Raj Chada was deeply critical of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), saying that “the truth is that the defendants should never have been prosecuted”.

Jake Skuse, 36, Rhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, and Sage Willoughby, 21, were all found to be not guilty of criminal damage by a jury at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon.

In a press conference directly after the verdict was announced, Chada, head of criminal defence at London law firm Hodge, Jones & Allan said: “The prosecution was not in the public interest in any shape or form”.

He added he was “amazed that the CPS rejected our representations and decided to prosecute this case”.

Others disagreed, with prime minister Boris Johnson, who condemned the toppling of the statue, saying people should not “go around seeking retrospectively to change our history”, adding: “It’s like some person trying to edit their Wikipedia entry – it’s wrong.”

Rhian Graham, one of the Colston 4 found not guilty, was at the press conference with Chada alongside Cleo Lake, former lord mayor of Bristol; Christine Townsend, Green Party councillor for Southville and founding member of Countering Colston; and activist Jen Reid.

While Chada said that the trial’s outcome is cause for celebration, he highlighted the “difficult” personal toll imposed on Graham and the other defendants. He highlighted the need for questions to be asked about “how public interest was arrived at”.

Graham said she was “overwhelmed” and “a little bit speechless” at the jury’s verdict.

Visibly emotional during the event at John Wesley’s New Room, she said: “This moment has felt so out of reach for so long… I am just so thankful to everyone that has supported us all the way along.

“Going into that courtroom we were already winning. It has already inspired so much change in the local area and beyond so it really didn’t matter what happened to us in the court but we won. It’s the cherry on the cake.”

As well as denouncing the CPS, Chada attacked Bristol City Council for their role in the trial, who have been contacted for comment by Bristol24/7.

“It is shameful that Bristol City Council did not take down the statue of slaver Edward Colston that had caused such offence to people in Bristol and equally shameful that they then supported the prosecution of these defendants.”

He stated that Skuse, Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby  had “done the right thing” and “the people who had done the wrong thing were the council in keeping the statue up for over 100 years and not doing anything”.

Chada added: “The council were the ones that should have been in court, not these four individuals.”

Sage Willoughby took the knee outside court after the jury’s verdict – photo: Betty Woolerton

Chada explained that the four defendants were ultimately acquitted as “they had a lawful excuse as to why they committed the acts that they did”.

“That excuse included their right to free speech, their right to conscience, and that a conviction would be a disproportionate interference with those rights.

“They were preventing a crime from happening. It was a criminal offence to keep that statue up because it was so offensive.”

Skuse, Graham, Ponsford and Willoughby were cleared after arguing their actions were justified by the offence caused by the presence of the statue in Bristol.

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read more:

• Not guilty verdicts in trial of Colston 4
• Jubilant and emotional scenes as Colston 4 acquitted
• Police hope for ‘positive moves’ following Colston 4 verdict

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