BLM march organiser stole over £30,000 in donations

A nanny who splashed tens of thousands of pounds in donations linked to a Black Lives Matter demonstration on her own lifestyle, including almost £6,000 on Uber rides and food deliveries, has been jailed for two and a half years.

- ALEX ROSS

Xahra Saleem, 23, had set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Covid personal protective equipment, before the landmark march in Bristol that saw the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue on 7 June 2020. Following the publicity around the march, donations soared, and £32,344 was raised, rather than the few hundred pounds expected.

Left-over money was then intended to go to a city-based youth company, called Changing Your Mindset, which Saleem was appointed director of. Trust was placed in Saleem as she co-organised the demonstration and was a prominent figure in the Black Lives Matter movement.

However, Saleem moved the money into a newly opened personal account and went on a 15-month spending spree on “lifestyle expenses”, said Alistair Haggerty, prosecuting, at the sentencing hearing at Bristol Crown Court yesterday.

With no other regular income or wage coming into the account, she made 2,512 payments, including amounts on an iPhone, iMac, hair and beauty treatments, clothing, Amazon purchases, takeaway food and more than £5,800 on Uber, said Mr Haggerty.