Criminal damage to the Colston statue: AG’s reference

On 28 September 2022, the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) handed down Attorney General’s Reference No. 1 of 2022 [2022] EWCA Crim 1259, on a reference arising from a prosecution In the Crown Court at Bristol Royal Courts of Justice; the Attorney General sought the opinion of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) (“the Court”) on three questions of law which arose in the trial in Bristol Crown Court of four defendant protestors for allegations of criminal damage on 7 June 2020 to a statue of the English merchant Edward Colston (1636-1721).

Extracts from the associated summary are reproduced below. Continue reading