Ex-friends who chopped down Sycamore Gap tree face lengthy jail terms

Two former friends are facing lengthy jail sentences after they were convicted of cutting down the beloved Sycamore Gap tree in an act of “mindless thuggery”.

Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers drove through a storm for 40 minutes in the middle of the night from their homes in Cumbria to the Northumberland landmark, where one of them cut down the sycamore and the other filmed it.

Precisely who used the chainsaw and who videoed the shocking crime has never been proven, but prosecutors at Newcastle Crown Court stressed the two men were in it together, carrying the equipment to the scene and one encouraging and assisting the other.

Mrs Justice Lambert remanded both defendants until they are sentenced on July 15, and said they could face “a lengthy period in custody”.

The former friends have fallen out since they were arrested and there were angry exchanges between Graham and a supporter of Carruthers in the public gallery when the men were led away.

The “odd couple”, who did everything together, had thought it would be “a bit of a laugh”, Mr Wright said, but realised they “weren’t the big men they thought they were” when they saw the public outrage they had caused by committing “the arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery”.

On Friday, groundworker Graham, 39, and mechanic Carruthers, 32, were each found guilty of two counts of criminal damage – one to the much-photographed tree and and one to Hadrian’s Wall, which was damaged when the sycamore fell on it.

There was no visible reaction from either in the dock as the jury returned after just over five hours to convict them.

The specimen that had taken over a century to grow was destroyed in less than three minutes.

Jurors heard Graham and Carruthers were “best of pals” at the time and regularly worked together felling trees.

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.

They also found photos and videos of a wedge of tree trunk and a chainsaw in the boot of Graham’s Range Rover, although these have never been found.

Messages and voice notes between Graham and Carruthers the next day showed them talking about the story going “wild” and “viral”, referring to “an operation like we did last night” and joking that damage looked like it had been done by a professional.

But, Mr Wright said, by the time their trial started 18 months later, the pair had “lost their courage” and their once close friendship had collapsed, with each apparently blaming the other.

Graham claimed during his evidence that 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 the 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.

“It was felt particularly deeply here in the north east of England where the tree was an emblem of the region and the backdrop to many personal memories.”