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The Sun
36 minutes ago
- The Sun
From bragging posts to iconic vid – the damning evidence that led to arrest of idiots who chopped down Sycamore Gap tree
THE two idiots who felled the historic Sycamore Gap tree have finally been jailed for their shocking crime. Now, we reveal the damning evidence that led to their conviction, from bragging posts to a shocking video of the chopping. 10 10 10 Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were jailed on Tuesday for four years and three months each. Detective Inspector Calum Meikle, who investigated the felling, said he knew he'd solved the crime when he saw the tree's "fantastically famous outline" on one of the perpetrator's phones. He revealed that officers were "tipped off" about Graham and Carruthers' involvement a few weeks after the shocking felling of the historic tree in September 2023. The tip-off stated that the pair of ground workers were responsible for chopping the tree down, even keeping a piece of the wood as a trophy. This led to the arrest of both men and seizing of their phones. Speaking to the Daily Mail, DI Meikle said a video recovered from Graham's device was incredibly dark, with details almost impossible to see. However, after sending it to be digitally enhanced, investigators discovered they had found evidence of the tree being destroyed. Gasps could be heard at Newcastle Crown Court as the now iconic grainy black and white video - accompanied by the sound of a revving chainsaw and cracking wood - was shown for the first time. DI Meikle said: "I'm always impressed with what our digital forensic units are able to achieve. "But, as you have seen from the video, as the person filming moves back, it shows us that fantastically famous outline (which) was undoubtedly the Sycamore Gap tree. Men who cut down iconic Sycamore Gap tree sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in jail "I was very pleased to have that evidence." Graham's phone also housed multiple other pieces of damning evidence, including photographs of a wedge of the tree trunk taken by the criminal as well as that of a chainsaw in the boot of his Range Rover. The pair of idiots not only chopped down the history tree but also damaged Hadrian's Wall during their "moronic mission". In just two minutes and 41 seconds, the two men chopped down the tree, which had stood next to the historic wall for more than a century. At their trial, the court heard how the pair had only recently admitted to responsibility for the felling in interviews with the Probation Service. They accepted they drove 30 miles through a storm to chop down the iconic landmark in the early hours of September 28, 2023. 10 10 10 Mrs Justice Christina Lambert said: "I can now be sure you, Adam Carruthers, were the person who felled the tree and you, Daniel Graham, assisted and encouraged him by driving there and back and not least by filming it on your phone." As they fled the scene, Carruthers forwarded the sick video to his partner. The wedge of the iconic tree - which was photographed in their vehicle - has never been found. Following their shocking crime, and as news broke of the vandalism, the pair shared social media posts about the tree, with Graham saying to Carruthers "here we go," as they "revelled" in reports of the crime. Although prosecutors said the friends had chopped the famous tree down for "a bit of a laugh," and suggested Carruthers was so obsessed with the Sycamore Gap that he wanted the wedge as a special souvenir for his newborn daughter, neither has offered any proper explanation for why they did what they did. This week, Carruthers claimed he had drunk a bottle of whisky and could barely remember chopping down the tree - although the judge said this was implausible due to the skill and coordination of the crime. Andrew Gurney, representing Carruthers, said he had made the admissions in a pre-sentence report. 10 10 10 He said: "He does wish to cleanse his conscience of what he has done. People want to know 'Why? Why did you conduct this mindless act?' "Unfortunately, it is no more than drunken stupidity. He felled that tree and it is something he will regret for the rest of his life. "There's no better explanation than that.' Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said there had been a 'high degree of planning and premeditation'. He said: "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.' On the other side, Graham continued to blame his accomplice, insisting cutting the tree down had been Carruthers' "dream" and "his show" which he simply went along with. The criminal also claimed he was "shocked" that Carruthers had followed through with his plan.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Ministers STILL won't come clean on secret airlifts after the Mail revealed 18,500 Afghans were brought to Britain as part of £7BILLION scheme
Ministers were last night urged to 'come clean' over a government operation smuggling Afghans to Britain. The highly secretive mission followed a military data leak that put 100,000 at risk of being killed by the Taliban. Now, after 23 months of being gagged by a draconian super-injunction, the Daily Mail can reveal how the projected £7 billion cost was signed off while taxpayers and MPs were kept in the dark. But the revelation sparked another secrecy row last night as Defence Secretary John Healey's emergency explanation to Parliament appeared at odds with facts heard at secret High Court hearings over the last two years. The covert airlift of thousands of Afghans – codenamed Operation Rubific – was launched after the UK military catastrophically lost a database of details of those who had applied for sanctuary in the UK to flee the murderous Taliban. It put 100,000 'at risk of death', in the Government's own words. It also exposed British officials whose details were on the list. After the Mail was the first newspaper in the world to discover the data breach, in August 2023, the Ministry of Defence mounted a cover-up and successfully hushed up our exclusive. They obtained a super-injunction and ever since then, cloaked by the unprecedented news blackout, ministers have been clandestinely running one of the biggest peacetime evacuation missions in modern British history to rescue people the UK had imperilled – smuggling thousands out of Afghanistan and flying them to Britain at vast cost, with taxpayers being neither asked nor informed. Every few weeks, unmarked government charter planes are landing at airports including Stansted and RAF Brize Norton packed with hundreds of Afghans, who are processed before being whisked off to a new life. So far 18,500 Afghans whose data was breached have been flown to Britain or are on their way in taxpayer-funded jets. A total of 23,900 are earmarked for arrival. They are living in MoD homes or hotels until permanent accommodation is found. More than 70,000 others will be left behind in Afghanistan and will have to fend for themselves after the Government yesterday shut the scheme. Incredibly, hundreds of the Afghans rescued by the Government are now poised to sue the UK for leaking their data in the first place – potentially adding a further £1 billion in compensation to the colossal costs of the rescue and rehousing mission. Last October, ministers signed off the £7 billion project which 'will mean relocating 25,000 Afghans [and] extend the scheme for another five years at a cost of c.£7bn', the secret court hearings were told. The £7billion figure was used repeatedly throughout the case. Yesterday, however, as the injunction was lifted, Mr Healey told the Commons the costs were actually only £400 million to £850 million, not £7 billion, while claiming the numbers rescued because of the data breach would hit 6,900. The Afghan migrants have been landing at Stansted around once a fortnight and are bussed from a private hanger An MoD official last night said there was a distinction between Afghans coming because their data was leaked and those on the list coming here anyway via other relocation schemes. As Mr Healey formally apologised for the data breach in the Commons, and Afghans began receiving messages from the Government saying 'we understand that this news may be concerning', it can be revealed: Mr Justice Chamberlain, the judge who heard the case, queried the billions being spent saying: 'I'm starting to doubt myself... am I going bonkers?' And he questioned the MoD's demand for secrecy by saying: 'This is a resettlement programme for immigrants to the UK'; Amid a housing crisis, one in ten of the new arrivals is expected to 'enter the homelessness system'; An incredible 20 per cent of all MoD property has been given over to housing Afghans; Ministers were privately warned areas with Afghan arrivals were 'hotspots' for last summer's riots; The MoD warned of 'the risk of public disorder' after the super-injunction was lifted. Adnan Malik from Barings Law, a Manchester firm that already has 1,000 clients ready to sue the Government, said: 'Since the super-injunction was lifted, we have heard conflicting information from the UK Government which goes against facts which were previously heard in court. 'We urge the Ministry of Defence to be clear and transparent with the public about the extent of this fiasco.' Last night there was also a political storm brewing as the chairman of the Commons defence committee, Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, said he was 'minded to recommend' an investigation, telling the Commons the 'whole data breach situation is a mess and is wholly unacceptable'. Yesterday Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled: 'There is no tenable basis for the continuation of the super-injunction.' But the Mail and other media were hit with a second injunction brought by the MoD – this time to ban sensitive details from the database itself from being published. Additional reporting: Mark Nicol
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Shock moment driver ploughs into cyclist on quiet country road before speeding off claiming ‘I thought it was a sheep!'
THIS is the shocking moment a van driver ploughed into a cyclist on a quiet country road before speeding off. Horrifying footage shows David Walter, 46, on his bike as he travelled to work along the B4280 near Bridgend, South Wales, before being struck by the heavy vehicle - driven by Wayne Adams, 60. 3 3 The recording, made by David on his bike, shows him cycling along the country road, keeping to the left-hand side, as other motorists travel in both directions. At one point, a driver can be seen overtaking David from behind, but exercising caution and leaving a large gap between themselves and the cyclist. The video - dated in the morning of September 5, 2022 - sees a number of other cars travel in the opposite direction before Adams' van enters the frame. His white van appears in the back of the frame before travelling rapidly towards David. The driver appears to make no attempt to swerve out of the way or give space to David as he continues to accelerate in his Peugeot van. As he makes contact with David and his bike, the cyclist is sent tumbling to the side of the road, into a grassy patch - leaving an eerie final frame of the ground beneath him. Cyclist David was left in a back brace for three months after the shocking crash after rupturing part of his spine and suffering from five broken ribs and a cracked sternum. The 46-year-old also suffered excessive internal bleeding and spent two weeks in hospital after being hit. David may never fully recover from his injuries and continues to suffer from a number of long-term health issues resulting from the crash. Adams claimed to police he couldn't see David on his bike due to low sunlight that morning - the cyclist was travelling along the road at around 7.20am. Shocking moment cyclist tears through traffic with child clinging to back - before riding WRONG way through roundabout However, drivers could be seen easily avoiding David in the video - not to mention that the cyclist was wearing a hi-vis jacket and had flashing lights on his bike. Adams also failed to stop at the scene after hitting David, later claiming he thought he had hit a sheep. After seeing the damage done to his van, however, he returned to the scene of the collision. Appearing at Cardiff Crown Court last month, Adams avoided a prison sentence but was given a 24-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified from driving for a year. 'I HAVE TO LIVE WITH PAIN EVERY DAY - IT NEVER LEAVES YOU' Speaking to WalesOnline, David said: "Having spent three months in a back brace trying to recover from this I now have metalwork in my back. "Before this I'd never even had back pain before and now I have to live with it every day." He explained that he now has to stand up at his desk and is also forced to sleep differently - either straight on his back or on his side with a pillow between his legs. David added: "It never leaves you. People see me back on my bike and think it's fine but it isn't that simple." The experienced long-distance cyclist said he also "blacked out" for around 20 seconds after being hit by the vehicle - finding himself on the side of the road and unable to move when he woke up. David then had to wait an agonising five hours at the scene until an ambulance arrived. He explained he had been on his usual Monday morning commute - and had been training at the time for the Paris-Brest-Paris 1,200km cycling event - when he was hit. David recalled that the sun was lower than usual on the morning he was hit but didn't feel that it was of any concern. Adams pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by careless driving. The court heard he had previous convictions for eight offences dating back to the 1980s and 1990s.
