Activists will run ‘Colston statue defence’ in Victoria Memorial trial

Four climate activists accused of damaging the Queen Victoria Memorial will rely on the same defence as the protestors cleared over the toppling of the Edward Colston statue, a court heard. Louis McKechnie, 21, along with Christopher Bennett, 31, Claire Smith, 24, and Rachel Steele, 46, deny causing damage worth £7,080.24 to the white marble statue last summer. Activists from Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, daubed red liquid over the memorial in front of Buckingham Palace on August…