UK slave trader statue topplers in court

Four people have appeared in a British court charged with criminal damage after a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled in Bristol during Black Lives Matter protests last year.

Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby spoke only to confirm their names and to enter their pleas during the hearing at Bristol Crown Court.

All four pleaded not guilty - renewing the plea they gave at an initial hearing at Bristol Magistrates Court in January.

Judge Peter Blair QC set a date for the trial to start as December 13. It is expected to last two weeks.

Around 10,000 people gathered in Bristol on June 7 as part of the global protests in the wake of the death of black man George Floyd in the US while being detained by police.

The statue has since been placed into a museum.