The felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree was an act of “drunken stupidity”, a court heard, as the two men responsible face sentencing.
Adam Carruthers, 32, and Daniel Graham, 39, drove 30 miles through a storm from Cumbria to Northumberland on 27 September 2023 before felling the landmark in less than three minutes.
Prosecutors said their “moronic mission” caused more than £620,000 worth of damage to the tree and more than £1,000 worth of damage to Hadrian’s Wall, where it fell.
They took a wedge as a trophy, which has never been recovered, and seemed to revel in the media coverage, exchanging messages and voice notes about the story going “wild” and “viral”.
Footage of the moment the tree was felled was played during the men’s trial at Newcastle Crown Court, where they both denied but were found guilty of two counts of criminal damage.
Shoots appearing to grow on the Sycamore gap tree stump. Pic: PA
A picture of the tree taken hours before it was felled. Pic: CPS
During their trial, Graham and Carruthers, who were once close friends, gave no explanation for why they targeted the tree, and since their arrests, they have fallen out and come to blame each other.
During their sentencing hearing, Carruthers’s barrister Andrew Gurney said people always want to know why he carried out “this mindless act”.
“Unfortunately, it’s nothing more than drunken stupidity,” he said. “He felled that tree and it is something he will regret for the rest of his life. There’s no better explanation than that.”
Christopher Knox, defending Graham, said there was “no question of intoxication” in his client’s case.
He said Graham’s caravan was targeted in an attack, with windows smashed, and he has received hate mail since the incident.
The court heard both men have now accepted they went on the mission to probation officers preparing pre-sentence reports.
Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham. Pic: Northumbria Police/PA
The pair were found guilty of criminal damage
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said Graham’s explanation that it was “only when the blade made contact with the tree he realised it was serious” was “fanciful”.
“The court can be sure they were sober, prepared and planned to do exactly what they did,” he added.
Graham has a previous caution for theft after he cut up a “large quantity of logs using a chainsaw”, the court heard.
He also has convictions for violence including battery and public order offences, which were said to be “relationship-based”, while father-of-two Carruthers has no previous cautions or convictions.
The tree, which had stood for more than 100 years in a dip in the landscape, held a place in popular culture and was featured in the 1991 Kevin Costner film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.
It also formed part of people’s personal lives, as the scene of wedding proposals, ashes being scattered and countless photographs.
A 6ft section of the trunk is now on public display at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre, around two miles from where it once stood, while 49 saplings taken from the tree have been conserved by the National Trust.
In a victim impact statement read at their sentencing hearing, National Trust general manager Andrew Poad, said the “iconic tree can never be replaced”.
“While the National Trust has cared for it on behalf of the nation, it belonged to the people,” he wrote.
“It was a totemic symbol for many; a destination to visit whilst walking Hadrian’s Wall, a place to make memories, take photos in all seasons; but it was also a place of sanctuary – a calming, reflective space that people came to year after year.
“While what was lost cannot be replaced, the stump is showing signs of life, with new shoots emerging at the base – as the decades progress, there is hope that some may grow and establish.”
Mr Poad said the “outpouring of emotion” to the felling was “unprecedented”, with one message from a member of the public described it as “like losing a close family member”.
Pictures were shown in court of a “celebration room” in memory of the tree, including a note which says: “How dare he steal our JOY,” while another reads: “Nature at it’s best over 300 years. Humanity at its worst over one night”.
Mr Poad added: “The overwhelming sense of loss and confusion was felt across the world.
“When it became clear that this was a malicious and deliberate act the question was why anyone would do this to such a beautiful tree in such a special place, it was beyond comprehension.”
At their 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”.
