Black Lives Matter fraudster who organised demo that saw Colston statue toppled in Bristol who splashed more than £30K raised from donors to fund her lifestyle is jailed for 2½ years
By IWAN STONE
PUBLISHED: 16:37 GMT, 31 October 2023
A Black Lives Matter activist who helped mastermind the protest which led to the toppling of Edward Colston's statue during the first national coronavirus lockdown has today been jailed for fraud.
Xahra Saleem spent more than £30,000 in donations earmarked for charity to fund her lifestyle.
The 23-year-old activist helped mastermind the headline-grabbing BLM demo in Bristol during in June 2020 which saw slave trader Colston's statue toppled and dumped in the harbour.Saleem admitted fraud following a police investigation into a GoFundMe page called 'BristBLM' set up before the protest.
The BLM organiser received £32,344 in donations raised from 558 individual contributions. She went on to spend the money earmarked for local charities to fund her lifestyle - from her rent, hair and beauty appointments, and takeaways, to a new iPhone, iMac and Amazon purchases. Bristol Crown Court heard that she even splurged nearly £6,000 on Uber rides.
Saleem, of Romford, Essex, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at a sentencing hearing today.
Defending, Tom Edwards, said she was left 'extremely sorry' and said Saleem was only 20 when she was trusted with a very large amount of money and was living away from home for the first time.
She had also been drinking heavily and taking drugs at the time, and had mental health issues.
Directors of Changing Your Mindset went so far as to say one young person who died might have been saved if they had been able to continue - as their relationship with the community deteriorated.The man - Saleem's cousin - was the victim of a stabbing, but her defence said it was not something that could be attributed to her.
In her sentencing, Saleem was described by Alistair Haggerty, prosecuting, as a 'prominent figure' in the city.
But he said she 'succumbed to temptation' as she splurged on purchases for herself.
As she was questioned why the money had not reached the charity, she claimed that Black Lives Matter had advised her not to among other excuses.
Other organisers of the controversial protest were left horrified by her crimes - saying the community had lost trust in them, making directors decide to close the charity.
Rebecca Scott - who was awarded an MBE for supporting disadvantaged communities in Bristol - told the court: 'This felt like our chance to really have an impact.'
She explained that they were 'blown away' by how much money was raised but were left feeling 'complicit' in Saleem's crimes.
Judge Michael Longman said the activist's victims included the young people she promised to help, telling the court: 'Your dishonest behaviour continued for a substantial amount of time.
'There were a large number of victims. You must have realised how much your behaviour would affect so many people.'
Directors of Changing Your Mindset went so far as to say one young person who died might have been saved if they had been able to continue - as their relationship with the community deteriorated. Pictured: The statue of Edward Colston after it was pulled down by protesters
In a statement released after the hearing, Jay Daley and Deneisha Royal from the youth group Changing Your Mindset said they continued to feel let down.
They said: 'It doesn't feel that justice has been fully served as we are unlikely to get back the money from her. It feels like we are being punished.
'It saddens me that a member of our community could do this to us because they knew and understood the goal we set out to achieve in order to positively change our community.
'For me the group was a safe place. A refuge that I could relax without concern for my safety.
'For some members it was an opportunity to cook a meal, collect donations and receive support for mental health as well as learn about new things such as employment opportunities.
'If we were to get the money back we would go on the trip and members of the group would reestablish the group and make changes to the community and use time on the trip to plan for this.'
Saleem had set up the crowdfunding page to raise money for face masks and other equipment to help facilitate the march legally, given it was taking place at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An agreement is said to have been made that any excess funds would go to charity Changing Your Mindset Ltd - which was a youth group based in the St Pauls area of Bristol - so young people could go on a trip to Africa.
The Colston statue was pushed into Bristol harbour on June 7, 2020, during protests related to the death of George Floyd in the US, and the subsequent global BLM movement.
Following the protest, which gained world-wide attention, the page raised tens of thousands of pounds - but none of the money is alleged to have arrived with the charity.
Saleem - who changed her name from Yvonne Maina - initially entered not guilty pleas to two charges of fraud.
The second charge related to a separate online fundraising page set up in the days following the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in June 2020, called 'Bristol Protesters Legal Fees'.
Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby, who became known as the Colston Four in a case that attracted wide attention, were later cleared of criminal damage connected to the incident involving the statue.
A spokesperson for the group told Bristol Live that the group was still working to retrieve the money, but it appeared unlikely.
'It is devastating that some of our young people are no longer with us to see the justice that the team at Changing Your Mindset lost sleep and worked hard to get,' she said.
'Often, we were wrongfully judged as thieves, by people expected to support us. The theft and overall lack of support hindered the staff and the young people in accessing the services delivered to them, eventually resulting in Changing Your Mindset sadly closing a year later.
'We are now taking some time to process the information we have now received that the perpetrator will finally be held accountable.'
When the Colston Four were cleared campaigners said the move gave the 'green light to political vandalism'.
The statue was toppled in June 2020 amid a wave of protests in the UK, the US and elsewhere.
Left-wing protesters drew up a list of statues of historical figures to target, including Oliver Cromwell, King Charles II and First World War hero Lord Kitchener.
The statue of Winston Churchill outside Parliament was also daubed with graffiti branding the former PM a racist, leading to it being covered up to prevent further damage.
Since the toppling of Colston's statue, which was later displayed on its side in M Shed Museum in Bristol, the name of the slave trader has been purged from the city.
