News, North East and Cumbria
One of the men who denies cutting down the world famous Sycamore Gap tree has told jurors his co-accused “best pal” admitted doing it.
The tree had grown in a dip on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland for more than 100 years before it was felled in a “moronic mission” in the early hours of 28 September 2023, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.
Daniel Michael Graham, 39, from Carlisle, and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, each deny two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and the Roman Wall.
Mr Graham claimed Mr Carruthers had previously “mentioned” cutting the tree down and the morning after it was felled, admitted he did it.
Jurors were previously told the tree was a much-loved landmark and had global significance for its position on the former frontier of the Roman empire.
Mr Graham’s phone and Range Rover were both tracked going to and from the site while a video, which prosecutors allege show the moment the tree was felled, was filmed on his mobile, the court has heard.
A wedge of wood was taken as a “trophy” and photographed hours later alongside a chainsaw in the booth of Mr Graham’s car, prosecutors have said.
On the fourth day of the trial, Mr Graham told jurors he had nothing to do with felling the tree or damaging the Roman wall, a couple of stones of which were fractured when the sycamore toppled on to them.
He said other people often used his car, and his iPhone 13 must have been left in it when someone drove it on 27 September.
Mr Graham said he and his co-accused were the “best of pals” in September 2023, with Mr Carruthers often working for his groundworks firm with tasks including felling trees.
He claimed Mr Carruthers showed him a piece of string in 2021 which the younger man said he had used to measure the circumference of the “most famous tree in the world”, jurors heard.
Mr Graham also said Mr Carruthers had “mentioned” chopping the tree down when he bought a chainsaw with a bar “big enough to cover the circumference of the tree”.
The morning after the felling, Mr Graham claimed Mr Carruthers called him on WhatsApp to say he had cut down the tree, but Mr Graham did not believe him.
Some time afterwards, Mr Graham said Mr Carruthers visited him one night and, when discussion turned to the tree, his co-accused asked him to “take the blame”.
Mr Graham claimed he was told the police would be “more lenient” on him as he had mental health issues and he would “get away with it”, but Mr Graham refused to do as Mr Carruthers asked.
In cross-examination, Mr Carruthers’ barrister Andrew Gurney suggested Mr Graham’s claims were “not true” and a “complete fabrication”.
Mr Graham replied they were “110% true” and Mr Gurney was paid to portray him as a liar.
Asked when he decided to turn on his good friend Mr Carruthers, Mr Graham said it was when the accusations started to harm his business.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC asked Mr Graham why someone would have taken his Range Rover for the job, with Mr Graham saying it was because it was a “4×4”.
He said his co-accused had access to his phone and car and was “capable” of felling the tree.
Mr Graham said he had been asleep the whole night in his caravan.
Mr Wright asked why his “large and vocal” dog, which would surely have gone “berserk” if anyone entered his yard and took a vehicle, did not bark and wake him.
Mr Graham said it was a windy and noisy night so the dog may not have heard anything, besides which it would not have barked if it heard Mr Carruthers because it would have recognised his voice.
Mr Graham also said he had not heard of the tree until Mr Carruthers mentioned it in 2021.
Mr Wright challenged Mr Graham, saying he had reported a car stolen from Steel Rigg, the nearest car park to the tree, in December 2020.
Mr Graham said he had parked at the car park to go for a walk with his dogs but did not know about the tree, and while he had seen the 1992 movie Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves in which the tree appears, he did not know where it had been filmed.
Earlier on Friday, the trial heard a man made an anonymous call to Northumbria Police in August 2024 to say Mr Carruthers cut the tree down and had the wedge of wood taken from it.
Det Insp Calum Meikle said he immediately recognised the voice of the caller to be Mr Graham, with investigations revealing Mr Graham’s phone had called the police’s 101 number at that exact time.
The officer agreed with Mr Carruthers’ barrister Andrew Gurney that there was “no uncertainty” the call had been made by Mr Graham.
Mr Graham admitted he made the call and said police were not doing a good job of catching the real people responsible.
The trial continues.
