Police release image of man wanted after statue to black Bristol playwright and actor Alfred Fagon was turned white in bleach attack
- The Alfred Fagon statue in Bristol was vandalised in the second week of June
- The monument was attacked using a corrosive substance believed to be bleach
- Fagon was a 20th century actor and playwright who resided in the Bristol
- The Jamaican-born actor was the first black man to be given a statue in the city
- Police have issued an image of a man they want to speak to about the incident
Police have released an image of a man they want to speak to in relation to the vandalism of Bristol’s Alfred Fagon statue earlier this month.
The sculpture of the black playwright and actor was covered in a corrosive substance, believed to be bleach, during the second week of June in a bid to discolour it.
The incident was reported to Avon and Somerset Police on Thursday 11 June but the attack is understood to have taken place in the days leading up to the report.
Avon and Somerset Police have released an image of a man (pictured left) they would like to speak to in connection with the defacing of the Alfred Fagon statue in Bristol
The monument was attacked using a corrosive substance (pictured) believed to be bleach during the second week of June in a bid to discolour it
A police spokesperson said: ‘We’ve released an image of a man we’d like to speak to as part of our investigation into an incident which led to damage to a statue of Alfred Fagon in St Paul’s, Bristol.
‘We were made aware on Thursday 11 June that an unknown substance had been used on the statue, causing damage.
‘We have had a number of calls with information about the incident, including from witnesses reporting that they believed someone had been trying to clean the bust.’
The statue is located in the St Pauls area of Bristol and remembers the life of the 20th-century Jamaican-born actor and playwright, who arrived in the UK in 1955 aged 18
The statue is based in the St Pauls area of Bristol and is owned by the Friends of Fagon Committee and maintained by the city council.
Jamaican-born Fagon was a member of the Windrush generation and arrived in England in 1955 as an 18-year-old.
After settling in Bristol, he forged a career in acting during the 1960s and 70s before becoming a playwright and theatre director before his death in 1986.
Exactly one year after his death, the statue of him was erected in Bristol, making him the first black person to be given a statue in the city.
The Alfred Fagon Award honouring playwrights of Caribbean or African descent who live in the UK was also named after him.
The statue was erected in Bristol in 1987 and is owned by the Friends of Fagon Committee and maintained by the city council.
In the days leading up to the attack on the monument, Black Lives Matter protestors toppled and threw the statue of 17th century merchant Edward Colston (pictured) into Bristol Harbour
In the days leading up to the attack on his statue, Black Lives Matter protestors pulled down the statue of Edward Colston, also located in the Bristol city centre, before throwing it into the nearby harbour.
The monument commemorating the 17th century merchant had been attacked and vandalised with graffiti before demonstrators toppled it at around 2.30pm on June 7.
On Sunday, Avon and Somerset released images of 15 individuals they would like to speak to in connection to the incident.
Anyone with information about the suspect in question or about the incident overall should contact Avon and Somerset Police on 101 with the reference number 5220127432.
ALFRED FAGON’S LEGACY
Jamaican-born poet and playwright Alfred Fagon
Alfred Fagon, was born in Jamaica and was one of 10 children. His father worked on a sugar plantation in Cuba.
He came to England in 1955, and he started to work on the railways in Nottingham. In 1958, he joined the army where he served for four years and also became a middleweight boxing champion.
On leaving the army, Alfred travelled around England singing calypso and then settled in St. Paul’s. Here he trained and worked as a welder then started acting and writing.
Alfred made his first stage appearance as an actor at the Bristol Arts Centre (off Jamaica Street, St. Paul’s) playing the Nigerian Officer Orara in Henry Living’s play, The Little Mrs Foster Show.
After that, he took worked as an extra in television before he researched, wrote and performed John Bull, a play for HTV in 1969. As he had lived in Bristol in the 1960s and 1970s, and did youth work in Kingswood, much of his early writing was based on his experiences and what he knew about people in St. Paul’s.
In 1970, Alfred made his first professional stage appearance in a play in London called Black Pieces.
After that he appeared in many television, film, radio and theatre roles, including BBC television’s five part drama series, Fighting Back.