Sycamore Gap tree wedge kept as trophy, court hears

Two men accused of chopping down the famous Sycamore Gap tree kept a wedge as a trophy in a felling that prosecutors described as a “moronic mission”.

The tree had stood for more than 100 years in a dip on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland before it was felled overnight on 27 September, 2023, Newcastle Crown Court 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.

Opening the case to jurors, prosecutor Richard Wright KC said the tree which was held in “high affection” by many was chopped down in just minutes and the accused “loved” the outrage caused.

The tree, which was planted in the late 1800s, had become “famous” and been photographed and depicted in films and art works “countless times”, Mr Wright said.

On the night of 27 September, Mr Carruthers and Mr Graham made a 40-minute drive in the latter’s Range Rover from Cumbria to chop down the tree, the prosecutor said.

As one cut it down using a technique known as hinge and wedge, the other filmed the act of “deliberate mindless criminal damage” on Mr Graham’s mobile phone, the court heard.

In the two minute and 41 second-long grainy video shown to jurors, a silhouetted figure can be seen appearing to cut at the base of a large tree which then falls over with big crash.

Mr Wright said the person filming the “criminal” act was just as responsible as the person “wielding the chainsaw”.

“Though the tree had grown for over a hundred years, the act of irreparably damaging it was the work of a matter of minutes,” Mr Wright said.

It was a “moronic mission” that the pair appeared to be “revelling in”, the prosecutor said.

Mobile phone data and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras showed them travelling towards and away from the remote site, with a wedge of wood believed to have been cut out of the tree photographed by the pair in the boot of Mr Graham’s car, the court heard.

The following morning, when news of the “senseless” attack broke sparking international outrage, the two accused shared multiple news and social media posts between themselves.

In one message Mr Graham said “here we go”, the court heard.

In a comment on Facebook, a man wrote: “Some weak people that walk this earth, disgusting behaviour.”

Two minutes later Mr Graham sent his co-accused a voice note saying: “Weak? Does he realise how heavy [stuff] is?”

Mr Carruthers responded saying he would like to see the commenter “launch an operation like we did last night”, adding: “I don’t think he’s got the minerals.”

Mr Wright said that message was the “clearest confirmation in their own voices” the two men were responsible for felling the tree.

The prosecutor said messages the men exchanged in the aftermath showed they were “loving” and “revelling in” the public’s response

He said: “This is excitement at the fact it’s gone worldwide it’s gone viral, it’s being talked about all over the world.

“There is no sadness here or remorse.”

The court heard the men had proven expertise to fell a large tree with a video of them doing so filmed just weeks before.

Both also had chainsaws at their homes but it was not believed they were the tools used to fell the Sycamore Gap tree.

Mr Wright said neither that chainsaw or the wedge of wood taken from the tree as a “trophy” had been found and had probably been “hidden away”.

Mr Wright said both men denied their involvement to police and would seek to blame each other, their once close friendship appearing to have unravelled “perhaps as the public revulsion at their behaviour became clear to them”.

Jurors had previously been warned to try the case purely on the evidence heard in court and set all emotion aside.

The trial continues.