The two men responsible for felling the iconic Sycamore Gap tree, a beloved landmark on Hadrian’s Wall, are set to be sentenced this Tuesday at Newcastle Crown Court.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers used a chainsaw to bring down the nearly 150-year-old sycamore in under three minutes, with one recording the act, forever altering the cherished northern England landscape.
Convicted in May of two counts of criminal damage each, their fate now rests with the judge. Justice Christina Lambert has warned Graham and Carruthers they could face a “lengthy period in custody,” as each count carries a penalty of up to 10 years behind bars.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, told jurors the pair had engaged in a “moronic mission” to cut down the landmark, travelling for more than 40 minutes from their homes in Cumbria, then carrying their equipment across pitch black moorland during a storm back in September 2023.
One of them filmed the act, although precisely who did what, and why, has never been explained, with the prosecution case claiming that each encouraged the other.
They took a wedge from the tree as a trophy that has never been recovered and revelled in the media coverage, as news of the vandalism caused national and international headlines.
The tree was a symbol of Northumberland, was the site of countless family visits and featured in the Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Its destruction, filmed on a mobile phone, took less than three minutes.
The maximum sentence for criminal damage is 10 years and aggravating factors include whether it was done to a heritage or cultural asset and evidence of wider impact on the community.
When she remanded the pair, Mrs Justice Lambert said they could face “a lengthy period in custody”.
The defendants were once close, working and socialising together, but have fallen out since their arrests and each has come to blame the other.
Graham’s Range Rover was picked up on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras between Carlisle and Sycamore Gap at night on September 27 2023, and returning early the next morning. His mobile was traced to phone masts making the same journey.
When police arrested the pair and searched Graham’s phone, they found a two-minute and 41-second video, which showed the sycamore being cut down at 12.30am on September 28, and had been sent to Carruthers.
Messages and voice notes between Graham and Carruthers the next day showed them talking about the story going “wild” and “viral”.
At trial, Graham claimed Carruthers had a fascination with the sycamore, saying he had described it as “the most famous tree in the world” and spoken of wanting to cut it down, even keeping a piece of string in his workshop that he had used to measure its circumference.
Carruthers denied this and told the court he could not understand the outcry over the story, saying it was “just a tree”.
The tree and wall were owned by the National Trust and a spokesperson said: “The needless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree shocked people around the country and overseas, demonstrating the powerful connection between people and our natural heritage.”
