Bristol Bus Boycott's Paul Stephenson remembered 60 years since his pub protest

• Dr Paul Stephenson speaking in 1983 about his historic protest.

Civil rights activists, community leaders and pioneers of the Bristol Bus Boycott have marked the 60th anniversary of one man's protest against a pub's colour bar with a mass sit-in.

On 10 April 1964, civil rights leader Paul Stephenson was arrested and put on trial for protesting against the Bay Horse Pub's policy of not serving black people.

The magistrate threw out the charges and the case paved the way for the Race Relations Act of 1965, the UK’s first anti-racist law.

In 1983, Dr Stephenson spoke to ITV News' Bruce Hockin about his historic stand.

He said: "Large numbers of public houses in those days weren't serving black people. When I was told to get out because I was black, I thought that's not on and so I stayed.

"When the police came to arrest me I was surprised to find about 15 police officers, a Land Rover and a couple of dogs."

He added: "Of course I went through an enormous ordeal, the emotional ordeal of being locked up.

"There was a young Irishman in that public house who I didn't know but came to give evidence at the police station to say that I hadn't done anything really bad and they told him to go away."

Bruce Hockin asked him: "But what about the court case and the result itself. How did you feel when it was all over?"

Dr Stephenson replied: "Well it was very terrible going through the actual trial. As you know it was front page headlines, it was a national issue and I felt very much alone on that."

He continued: "I was delighted when the magistrates said, 'We find you not guilty of these charges Mr Stephenson, you're free to leave this court and also we're going to offer you 15 guineas costs against the police for bringing this charge in the first place.'

"I thought that was excellent because it really did show that the magistrates saw clearly that my case was just and the police and the licensee at that time had not got their facts correct."

Dr Stephenson went on to say: "More importantly, it gave the Wilson Government an even greater spur under the then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins to legislate and they did a few months later.

"They were already considering it anyhow but I think it gave them an equal spur to legislate and the first Race Relations Act was in 1965 and the first thing they did was make racial discrimination in public houses illegal."

In recognition of the historic moment, the Bay Horse Pub has formally apologised for the injustice that took place there.

Mark Howe, Business Development Manager said: “Everyone involved with the pub wants to wholeheartedly apologise to Paul for the treatment he received that day.

"This apology is not only to Paul Stephenson himself for the terrible actions on that day in 1964 but also to the whole community whom this affected.”

The pub also launched a new beer called The Sit-In as a tribute and unveiled a brass plaque as Bristol’s first public monument to Paul’s achievements.

Paul, who is 87 (he was born on 6 May 1937), was unable to attend the commemorations on Friday 25 October but members of his family joined in the events to mark his legacy.

Who is Paul Stephenson?

Dr Paul Stephenson, OBE, is a community worker, activist, and long-time campaigner for civil rights for the British African-Caribbean community in Bristol, England.

As a young social worker, in April 1963, he led a boycott of the Bristol Omnibus Company, protesting its refusal to employ Black or Asian drivers or conductors.

In August 1963, the day the Boycott defeated the 'colour bar', Martin Luther King gave his iconic 'I Have a Dream' speech.

In 1964, Paul Stephenson achieved national fame when he refused to leave a public house until he was served, resulting in a trial for failing to leave licensed premises. His campaigns were instrumental in paving the way for the first Race Relations Act in 1965.

Because of his life's work, in 2007 he was granted the Freedom of The City of Bristol, making him the first Black man to become a Freeman of the city.

In 2009 he was awarded an OBE, and an honorary degree from the University of The West of England, and a honorary Doctorate of Law from Bristol University in 2014.

In 2017 Paul Stephenson received a Pride of Britain Lifetime Achievement Award and shortly afterwards, Great Western Railway named a train after him.