'The odd couple': The 'spectacular' falling out between the men who felled the Sycamore Gap tree

ITV News

09-05-2025

'Best of pals' - that's the phrase used by Daniel Graham in court to describe his relationship with Adam Carruthers around the time of September 2023, when the Sycamore Gap tree was felled.
But their roles in felling the famous tree would sour that friendship, and the 'spectacular' fallout would later play out in court, where both of them were found guilty of two counts of criminal damage - one to the tree itself, the other to Hadrian's Wall.
They are due to be sentenced later this year.
"Stumbled upon each other"
Adam Carruthers, 32, is a mechanic by trade. He was regularly called on by Daniel Graham to maintain the fleet of vehicles he used for his groundworks business.
Their relationship moved from a business arrangement to a friendship in devastating circumstances. In 2021, Graham's father took his own life.
Graham told the court that Carruthers had "done him a good turn" by repairing his father's prized Land Rover, which he described as his "pride and joy". The work meant Carruthers calling in favours and working through the night to ensure it was ready for the funeral service.
Over time, the two grew closer together. Carruthers said he and Graham 'stumbled upon each other as friends' - that they would see each other as often as four times a week and would speak on the phone almost daily. Graham told the court that he was not sociable - he had a small circle of friends, and if he wasn't spending time with his partner, he could normally be found with Carruthers.
The pair also worked together. Carruthers told the court how he had helped Graham to tarmac a drive, before working on him to "trim some trees" on five or six occasions. Any money earned from the work would be split down the middle between the two.
Felling the tree
At the time the Sycamore Gap tree was felled, Carruthers had just become a father for a second time. His partner was recovering at home following a caesarian section and he was staying with her at her caravan in Kirkbride.
The pair set off together on the night of Wednesday 27 September 2023, travelling towards the Sycamore Gap in Graham's black range rover. The journey would take around 40 minutes from Graham's home near Carlisle.
They parked at Steel Rigg car park and completed the roughly 20 minute walk to the tree on foot. While one held the chainsaw, the other filmed the act on Graham's iPhone.
Once the job was done, the pair set off back towards Carlisle. Graham sent Carruthers the footage of the tree being felled. In the boot of the Range Rover, a short video was taken of the so-called "trophy" - a wedge believed to have been removed from the tree in order to bring it down. A long bar chainsaw is also visible. Metadata contained within the image indicates it was taken on Graham's phone in his yard.
In the hours following the tree coming down, the prosecution said the pair 'revelled' in what they had done, exchanging messages, voice notes and screenshots between them.
In response to an image of the cut on the stump, Graham messaged: "Not a bad angle on that cut. Must have been a professional.'
"It's gone viral," came one voice message between the pair. "It will be on ITV News tonight."
The friendship unravels
In the wake of the felling, the friendship began to unravel. Both men were arrested under caution on 31 October 2023. Both denied being anywhere near the Sycamore Gap tree when it was felled, or having any involvement whatsoever in the tree coming down.
Under interview, Graham describes Carruthers as "a good lad" and despite telling the court he had been told directly by his friend that he had cut down the tree, he refused to give a name as he didn't want to be a "grass"
Shortly after their arrest, Graham met with DS Calum Meikle - the officer in charge of the investigation - to show him images taken in Carruthers' workshop at Cumbria Turf, where he worked.
Carruthers can be seen holding two owls with a number of chainsaws visible behind him. In court, Graham said he had done this because the police that they "hadn't done their job properly" in earlier searches. Carruthers would later tell the court that these chainsaws didn't belong to him.
Graham also alleged that Carruthers, along with another man who police say was not a suspect in the case, arrived at his yard shortly after his arrest.
He said the pair brought a pizza, which was placed on the bonnet of the Range Rover, and asked him to take the blame "if it all kicked off," as they believed his previous history of struggles with mental health would result in a more lenient sentence.
Carruthers denies that this meeting ever took place.
The pair did meet one more time - to call time on their friendship. Graham said that, as had become tradition between the two, he had taken Carruthers a milkshake. According to the accounts of both men in court, Graham said would be going his way, Carruthers would go his own way and the pair were no longer friends.
The pair were arrested for a second time in November and were charged with criminal damage in April 2024.
Graham told the court that publicity around the case was hurting his business. He made contact with police again in August 2024. In an anonymous phone call made to 101, he blamed Carruthers for the felling, and saying that the saws used to fell the tree were now back in his possession. He told the jury, "It was costing me money, affecting my business, then I will f****** grass."
The trial
During the trial, the pair sat alongside one another in the dock as co-defendants, but no longer as friends.
Richard Wright, prosecuting, said, that the pair had "lost their courage" since the felling and that they had now blamed each other for the crime.
Mr Wright said the two men were "in it together from first to last". He told jurors they were "the odd couple... Two men who did everything together and who, you can be sure, were together this night as well".
Carruthers and Graham were found guilty by a jury of causing criminal damage. They are due to be sentenced on 15 July.