Two men behind ‘senseless' felling of Sycamore Gap tree jailed for more than four years

The Guardian

a day ago

Two men who carried out a 'moronic mission' to fell one of the most loved and photographed trees in the UK have been jailed.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each given prison sentences of four years and three months for an act of criminal damage that caused the Sycamore Gap tree to crash down on to Hadrian's wall in Northumberland on a stormy September night in 2023.
The attack, using a chainsaw in the middle of the night, was met with sadness, disbelief and anger that rippled around the world.
Sentencing the men at Newcastle crown court, Mrs Justice Lambert said the motive remained unclear but she rejected a claim by Carruthers that he was drunk.
The judge said Carruthers cut down the tree with a chainsaw while Graham filmed him, suggesting that 'sheer bravado' and 'some sort of thrill' were likely factors.
The sycamore was probably planted in the late 19th century and in recent decades the site was known as a beauty spot where people went to picnic, celebrate birthdays, propose marriage, spread ashes or just take photos.
Graham, from Carlisle, and Carruthers, from Wigton, were found guilty in May of the criminal damage of the tree and the wall beside it, a Unesco world heritage site.
They had denied the offence even though there was evidence that Graham's car had been used to drive to the beauty spot with a chainsaw in the boot.
During an eight-day trial, the jury watched footage from Graham's phone of the tree being felled and heard messages between the pair that the prosecution said showed them revelling in the infamy.
The prosecutor, Richard Wright KC, said during the trial that the crime was a 'moronic mission' and the 'arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery', and that the two men showed a 'basic lack of decency and courage to own up to what they did'.
At the sentencing on Tuesday, the court heard a victim impact statement from Andrew Poad, general manager for the National Trust of the Sycamore Gap site.
Read by a barrister, the statement described the public response to the felling as 'unprecedented', adding that 'an overwhelming sense of loss and confusion' had been felt around the world.
'The question was why anyone would do this to such a beautiful tree in such a special place. It was beyond comprehension,' he said.
'This iconic tree can never be replaced. It belonged to the people. It was a totemic symbol.'
Carruthers' barrister, Andrew Gurney, said his client would have to 'bear the burden of what he had done for the rest of his life'.
'He is a man of previous good character,' Gurney said. 'That is gone. He will forever be linked to this act. He will have to carry this as some form of personal penance.'
Gurney acknowledged people wanted to know why the tree had been felled, but said: 'Unfortunately it is no more than drunken stupidity. It is something he will regret for the rest of his life.'
At the sentencing Wright urged the court to reject the idea that either man was intoxicated.
'The court can be sure they were sober and prepared to do what they did,' he said, with the felling requiring a 'high degree of planning and premeditation'.
Wright added: 'This was an expedition which required significant planning in terms of taking a vehicle, driving for about 40 minutes to a car park, taking with them appropriate specialist equipment, carrying the equipment for about 20 minutes' walk in each direction.
'The felling was carried out in a deliberate, professional way.'
Christopher Knox, defence barrister for Graham, said his client had been remanded in custody before the trial for 'his own sake' after attempting to take his own life.
Knox described Graham, who owned a groundwork business, as a 'troubled man' who had a much more positive side to him than what was being seen in court.
'This is a man who was making a living with a decent business, a proper business,' he said.
He said Graham's home had been damaged since his arrest and he had received hate mail.
The judge said the felling caused widespread distress.
She told them: 'You revelled in the coverage, taking pride in what you have done, knowing you were responsible for the crime so many people were talking about.
'Whether that was the sole explanation for what you did, I do not know, however I know you are both equally culpable.'
Kim McGuinness, the metro mayor for north-east England, said she hoped the pair now realised the seriousness of their actions.
'I'm glad to finally see justice being done, but the sentence could never reflect the devastation we all still feel for the loss of our beloved Sycamore Gap tree,' she said.
The public gallery was packed for the sentencing and included 78-year-old Sheila Hillman, who had travelled up with her husband John, 84, from Wolverhampton.
Originally from Newcastle, she said she was 'incensed and heartbroken' by the felling and wanted to see justice being done.
But she thought the sentences were too short and still did not understand why the pair had done it. 'There's plenty of trees in Cumbria for them to cut down.'