Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers first arrived at court in May 2024, faces covered and surrounded by mystery as the two men accused of cutting down “the world’s most famous tree” at Sycamore Gap.
Both have now been found guilty of criminal damage, with the trial hearing that they were “reasonably isolated figures” and an “odd couple” who did everything together.
Graham and Carruthers were “best of pals” when they set about the tree. The pair lived 12 miles apart in Cumbria, seeing each other up to four times a week, speaking on the phone every day – and regularly worked together to fell trees.
But this friendship was soon to crumble under the weight of the massive media attention attached to their crime. In now-released voice notes, the pair at first seemed to revel in the notoriety, with one telling the other: “It’s gone viral, it is worldwide.”
But he court heard that in the year since their first court appearance, when they walked in together wearing balaclavas, the pair’s once close friendship had unravelled. It would appear Graham now wanted to blame Carruthers for cutting down the famous sycamore and ruining his business.
In the end, both men would be found guilty of two counts of criminal damage – one relating to the tree, and the other to the adjacent roman wall which was also damaged. Both will be sentenced on 15 July.
Here’s everything you need to know about the two men convicted of felling the iconic Sycamore Gap tree:
Daniel Graham
Newcastle Crown Court heard Graham, 39, lived and worked at Milbeck Stables, Carlisle, where he had a groundwork company called D M Graham Groundworks.
The court heard Graham sometimes cut down trees as part of his business and owned three or four chainsaws.
He told police during an interview he “didn’t really do a lot” and would usually either be at work, the yard or with his “bird”.
The court heard he rarely socialised with anyone other than Carruthers or his on-off partner, who he named as Lisa Shields.
Graham told detectives he had trouble sleeping and would sometimes go for a drive in his campervan, saying: “I don’t have plans for tomorrow, never mind the day after.”
He said during his evidence that he had mental health issues and that his father had hanged himself – a tragedy that led to his close friendship with Carruthers.
The court heard Carruthers had been repairing Graham’s father’s Land Rover when he died, and Carruthers did Graham a “good turn” by getting it ready in time for the funeral.
At the time the tree was cut down in September 2023, the pair had been “best of pals” for about three years, according to Graham, and split the cash they made from felling trees 50/50.
In his interviews with police, Graham refused to name the person he thought was responsible for cutting down the tree and asked if the allegation that he was involved would ruin his life, he replied: “I don’t have any family so I don’t give a f***.”
But he told the trial he “turned on” Carruthers when his business started to suffer because of his name being linked to Sycamore Gap.
The court heard a 10-minute anonymous phone call Graham made to police in August year when he named Carruthers as being responsible for cutting the tree down.
In a Facebook post in December last year, just before their first trial was due to start, Graham posted several pictures of Carruthers, saying: “Here’s the man with the hidden face,” and accused him of borrowing his Jeep to cut the tree down, while denying his own involvement.
That trial in December 2024 did not go ahead because Graham was too ill.
His barrister Chris Knox said Graham “had been in custody for his own protection” after an “episode” around that tim.
Adam Carruthers
The trial heard Adam Carruthers, 32, became a father for the second time only 12 days before the tree was felled.
His partner Amy Connor gave birth to their second daughter on September 16 2023.
Carruthers said he usually lived with his father in Wigton, but at the time of the Sycamore Gap damage, he was staying with Ms Connor in a caravan at the Old Fuel Depot in Kirkbride, Cumbria.
Carruthers said he was a mechanic, worked at a turf farm maintaining all their machinery and looked after some residential flats.
Asked what sort of machinery he specialised in, he said: “Anything really, anything with an engine.”
Carruthers said he and Graham “just stumbled upon each other as friends”.
He denied Graham’s claim that he had a fascination with the Sycamore Gap tree, or kept a piece of string he had used to measure its circumference.
The court heard Carruthers had no previous convictions, reprimands, warnings or cautions.
