An organiser of the Black Lives Matter protests that toppled slave trader Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol has been jailed for fraud after spending more than £30,000 on herself – including nearly £6,000 on Ubers. Xahra Saleem, 23, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on after she pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by abuse of position after an investigation into a fundraiser linked to the BLM movement.

Avon and Somerset Police investigated a GoFundMe page called ‘BristBLM’ initially set up for the demonstration on June 7, 2020, after the donation money disappeared. The fundraiser was intended to raise cash for Changing Your Mindset, which was a Bristol St Pauls-based youth group, but it was never received.