Two men have been found guilty of cutting down the famous Sycamore Gap tree, in what a court heard was a “mindless” and “moronic” act.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were found to have driven from Cumbria to the Northumberland landmark, where one of them cut down the sycamore and the other filmed it.
While it has not been confirmed who did what, a jury at Newcastle Crown Court convicted both men of criminal damage to the tree and Hadrian’s Wall – with the judge Mrs Justice Lambert saying they could face “a lengthy period in custody”.
Here’s what we know about the two men – and the possible motive for their crime.
Who is Daniel Graham?
Daniel Graham denied the charges but was convicted on Friday. Pic: Northumbria Police/ PA
The trial heard Graham, 39, lived and worked at Milbeck Stables in Carlisle, where he had a groundwork company named D M Graham Groundworks.
He occasionally cut down trees as part of his business and owned three or four chainsaws, the court was told.
The jury heard he rarely socialised with anyone other than Carruthers or Lisa Shields, with whom he had an on-and-off relationship.
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.”
During evidence, he said he had mental health issues and his father had hanged himself – which led to his close friendship with Carruthers.
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Two found guilty of cutting down tree
Graham was facing eviction after Cumberland Council had rejected his application to live in his caravan at Millbeck Stables in April 2023.
He ran his business from the caravan and neighbours objected to the “large commercial vehicles”, which would drive in and out of the rural site.
In planning documents, the parish council objected to his application, saying that neighbours and planning officials had “felt threatened by the dominant and oppressive behaviour displayed by the proposer”.
Planning documents also showed that council tax had not been paid on the caravan.
Graham, who had lived on the site since he bought it in 2016, had told planning officials then he would use the caravan as a “tea/bait room” but had instead lived in it without authorisation.
Who is Adam Carruthers?
Adam Carruthers also denied the charges but was found guilty. Pic: Northumbria Police / PA
The trial heard that Carruthers, 32, became a father for the second time only 12 days before the tree was felled.
Carruthers said he usually lived with his father in Wigton but at the time of the Sycamore Gap felling, he was staying with his partner Amy Connor in a caravan at the Old Fuel Depot in Kirkbride, Cumbria.
He also said he was a mechanic, worked at a turf farm maintaining their machinery, and looked after some residential flats.
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Sycamore Gap trial – what happens next?
How did they know each other – and what was their possible motive?
Carruthers insisted that he and Graham “just stumbled upon each other as friends”.
However, the court heard from Graham that Carruthers had been repairing his father’s Land Rover when he died, doing him a “good turn” by getting it ready in time for the funeral.
The pair had been the “best of pals” for about three years by the time of the Sycamore Gap incident, according to Graham, and split the cash they made from felling trees.
When he was first interviewed by police, Graham refused to name the person he believed was responsible for felling the tree, after denying it was him.
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Moment Sycamore Gap tree cut down
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***.”
Later, he told the trial he “turned on” Carruthers when his business started to suffer over being linked to the Sycamore Gap incident.
The court heard a 10-minute anonymous phone call Graham made to police where he said Carruthers was responsible for cutting the tree down.
Read more from the trial:
‘Moronic mission’ to fell tree
Man told police he was ‘framed’
And 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.”
Graham also accused Carruthers of borrowing his Jeep to cut the tree down, while denying his own involvement.
Prosecutors offered no evidence of a motive for the crime other than calling it senseless vandalism.
However Richard KC Wright suggested to jurors in his closing argument that the men cut the tree down for “a bit of a laugh” but had failed to realise the anger they would spark in the “arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery”.
