logo
Bizarre story of Sycamore gap duo and moment that 'tipped them over the edge'

Bizarre story of Sycamore gap duo and moment that 'tipped them over the edge'

Daily Mirror7 days ago
Former friends turned enemies, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, were convicted of criminal damage to the immensely popular Sycamore Gap tree, which they claimed was felled in a 'drunken prank'
The two men who cut down the famous tree at Sycamore Gap out of "sheer bravado" have now been put behind bars.

But their three-minute "moronic" destruction of the much-loved tree, which had stood for more than 100 years in a fold in the Northumberland landscape, will never be forgotten. The two were once pals with locals saying the plot saw "the man with no friends" - Daniel Graham, 39 - team up with "the man with no brains", Adam Carruthers, 32.

Graham soon turned on Carruthers, tipping police off that he had cut down the iconic landmark in September 2023. The pair, who were each jailed for four years and three months, were convicted of criminal damage to the tree along with criminal damage to Hadrian's Wall, caused when the sycamore fell on the ancient monument.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the pair had travelled more than 40 minutes from their homes in Cumbria, then carried their equipment across pitch-black moorland during a storm to carry out the act of vandalism. A wedge, which still hasn't been recovered, was taken from the tree as a trophy, while they revelled in national and international media coverage following the wrecking.
So what drew the pair to carry out the felling? And was it more than just a "drunken prank"?

Motive riddle
Defending their case, the pair offered an underwhelming excuse for the infamous felling, claiming that it was a drunken prank. Despite their defence arguing that the act was "no more than drunken stupidity", neither the prosecution nor the judge were convinced.
Andrew Gurney, for Adam Carruthers, insisted: '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.' On Tuesday Mrs Justice Lambert jailed the pair, saying their motivation was still not clear but a large factor seemed to be 'sheer bravado'.

She told the defendants: 'Felling the tree in the middle of the night in a storm gave you some sort of thrill. 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.'

Graham said that Carruthers had kept part of the tree as a 'trophy'. That accusation was put to Carruthers when he was asked under cross examination at the trial if he had kept a section of the trunk as a souvenir for his newborn daughter.
It is believed that Carruthers had also cut down a tree to mark the birth of his first born daughter Charlie on Sept. 5, 2018. He wanted to go 'one better' for his second child Olivia and take a piece of the iconic sycamore.
Like Graham, he had offered a series of pathetic lies to cover up his senseless crime, telling jurors that it was "just a tree" and he "did not understand" all the headlines. However, it was apparent he formed a "strange interest" in the Sycamore Gap tree, and in his workshop kept a length of string which he'd used to measure the circumference, knowing that when the time was right, he would cut it down.

The "right time" for Carruthers came when Olivia, his second child, was born. Just 12 days later he and Graham set out in a black Range Rover to retrieve a "trophy" for her, a wedge cut from the trunk of what Carruthers called: "The most famous tree in the world."
Friends to enemies
The defendants were once close friends but have fallen out since their arrests, with Graham turning on Carruthers. Detectives received a call naming both the men responsible for the crime, and Graham found himself at the centre of a social media storm of abuse.
He was forced to remove his name from his business vehicles and, in an anonymous phone call to Northumbria Police, named Carruthers as the man who had cut down the tree. When court proceedings first commenced, the pair turned up together, both dressed in balaclavas to hide their identities. But soon enough, Graham turned up alone, without any face covering.

Giving evidence at his trial, Graham admitted he and Carruthers had been close but claimed he had 'no friends'. "You could say I am anti-social," he said. "I don't have much time for people."
He claimed he had taken his car and phone without his permission on the night the tree was cut down. Graham's Range Rover was picked up on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras between Carlisle and Sycamore Gap at night on September 27 2023, and returning early the next morning.

His mobile was traced to phone masts making the same journey. The judge said that, after admissions they had both made in pre-sentence reports, she could now be sure that Carruthers cut the Sycamore Gap tree down while Graham drove him there and filmed it on his phone.
She told them: 'Adam Carruthers, you told a probation officer you had no idea why you carried out the crime and could offer no explanation. You said you had drunk a bottle of whisky after a tough day and everything was a blur.
'Daniel Graham, as during the trial, your main focus seemed to be to heap as much blame as possible on your co-defendant. You now accept you were present but blame him for what happened that night.'

The judge went on to say: 'You told the probation officer it was (Carruthers') 'dream and his show' and you just went along with it.' Mrs Justice Lambert said: 'Although there may be grains of truth in what you said, I do not accept your explanations are wholly honest or the whole story.
'Adam Carruthers, your account that you had so much to drink that you had no memory of what happened is not plausible. The tree felling demonstrated skill and required deliberate and co-ordinated actions by you… It was not the work of someone whose actions were significantly impaired through drink.

'Nor, Daniel Graham, do I accept you just went along with your co-defendant. You filmed the whole event, you took photos of the chainsaw and wedge of trunk in the boot of your Range Rover. The next day, you appeared to revel in coverage of your actions in the media.
'This is not the behaviour of someone who is shocked and horrified by what has happened.'
Vandal's grudge

Carruthers tried to portray himself as a devoted dad and claimed that he was at home with partner Amy on the night the tree was cut down. But he could come up with no explanation for the series of texts and voice note messages he and Graham exchanged.
Chris Knox, defending Graham, said: 'He is a troubled man who has had very real difficulties in his life, which have not all been of his own making.' His home, and the business he operated from it, were attacked after he was remanded in custody, anxd windows broken, the barrister said.
Meanwhile, in the run up to the 'moronic mission', Graham held a grudge against authorities who rejected his bid to live near Hadrian's Wall and was locked in a bitter planning dispute with his local council. He was issued with an enforcement notice by Cumberland Council for his home and business premises at Millbeck Stables on the edge of Carlisle, Cumbria, within Hadrian's Wall 's UNESCO World Heritage site 'buffer zone'.
Residents and planning officials from Beaumont Parish Council, a remote Cumbrian rural community, told how they felt threatened by Graham's 'dominant and oppressive behaviour'. The council rejected his retrospective bid to live on the site of his Millbeck Stables and warned he faced eviction.
He was told he had until October 28, 2025, to find 'other accommodation', but he'll now be living out the next few years in prison. But the decision means Graham will have no home to come back to when he is released from his sentence.
A final letter of refusal was made in April, 2023,with the Sycamore Gap tree felled little more than five months later. Several locals objected to his application to live on the site, and believe his rage against authority may have been part of his motivation for the crime.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Sycamore Gap prosecutor shares his story of the trial
Sycamore Gap prosecutor shares his story of the trial

BBC News

time4 days ago

  • BBC News

Sycamore Gap prosecutor shares his story of the trial

The trial of the two men who felled the Sycamore Gap tree garnered global attention. What was it like for the prosecutor at the heart of the case? It felt like a murder trial. Day after day we heard of phones and cars being tracked, gloating messages swapped by the culprits in the aftermath and emotional statements about the devastation they had in this case, the weapon was a chainsaw and the victim was a tree. Richard Wright KC has worked on more than 100 murder cases in his 27 years as a an exclusive interview with the BBC, the prosecutor says the interest in trial of Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers was on a scale he had never encountered before."It was the public expectation," he says, "the pressure of getting the right result.""The evidence was overwhelming so, in cases like that, if you don't get a conviction, something's gone badly wrong." The jury retired on a Thursday, spending four and a half hours out in discussions before being sent home for the day, eventually returning with guilty verdicts the following morning."I was climbing the walls," Mr Wright says of the wait."You start thinking 'Oh my God, could I have done it differently, what if I've got it wrong?'"He didn't - the jury agreed the evidence was overwhelming. During his opening speech, the video of the tree being cut down was shown for the first time. When the two-and-a-half minute long clip, filmed on Graham's phone, finished you could have heard a pin drop in Newcastle Crown Court's courtroom one."Some people might say it was 'just a tree', but the senseless nature of it was quite emotional," Mr Wright recalls. "It did have a greater power when it was presented in court than I thought it would. "Everybody was stunned in to silence. "I felt the same." The video wasn't the only piece of evidence that helped convict Graham, 39, and Carruthers, 32, who had travelled from their homes in Cumbria to fell the tree on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland in the early hours of 28 September news of the tree's felling rapidly spread, Graham and Carruthers were sending each other screenshots of news reports and outraged social media responses to what they had done."I couldn't believe they had recorded the video in the first place," Mr Wright says. "Equally, I thought their conversations the next day were significant, which frankly only the people who'd cut down the tree could be having." They described it as their "operation", talked about how good the cut had been and were getting palpable excitement from the fury."It was one of those cases where you had your absolute dream tick list of every single thing you'd want to prove a criminal offence," Mr Wright says."Admissions after the fact, evidence of them actually committing the crime, cell site and other circumstantial evidence. "The police did an excellent job." During the trial, Mr Wright described the pair as "the odd couple", best friends before falling out spectacularly as the public revulsion at their actions became clear to them."They were certainly unconventional," Mr Wright says."I thought the relationship between them was very strange, they'd had an intense friendship and now they were absolutely daggers drawn."In court, there were also heated exchanges between Mr Wright and Graham. During cross examination, the defendant raised his voice to the prosecutor and said "I've had enough of you calling me a liar. You're trying to wind us up." Was that what Mr Wright was trying to do? "I thought to myself he was trying to make the jury think I was bullying him and being unfair," Mr Wright responds, adding: "I've had worse." The question of "why" has been the big one for this case, what was the motive for what Mr Wright described to jurors as a "moronic mission".After being convicted, Carruthers went from denying any involvement to admitting being a part of it and attributing it to "drunken stupidity".Jailing them for four years and three months each, Mrs Justice Lambert gave that claim short had done too good a job for it to have been done while drunk, the judge said, adding "sheer bravado" and "thrill-seeking" were driving factors. Mr Wright has another theory, relating to the pair taking away the wedge of tree they had cut out and Carruthers having a newborn baby."I really do think the motive was to get some sort of trophy to celebrate the birth of Carruthers' child," the prosecutor says."I think it was probably something as pathetic as that." Does he think the wedge, which was photographed later that night in the boot of Graham's Range Rover, will ever be found?"I doubt it," Mr Wright says. "I think they would have got rid of it."Since the sentencing, the barrister has already been on two murder cases and spent time sitting as a judge, but he is very aware his name is still attached to the Sycamore Gap case."It's certainly a case I will never forget," Mr Wright says. "As a barrister you like to be anonymous. You go and you do your job, you don't really want to be in the public eye so I was quite pleased when it was over."As he moves on to his next cases, the men he prosecuted have been beginning their prison did he think of the sentence? "As far as I could tell, 50% of the public think it was too long and 50% think it was too short," Mr Wright says. "So that tells me it's about right." Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.

South Shields fraudster stole £64k from his grandfather
South Shields fraudster stole £64k from his grandfather

BBC News

time5 days ago

  • BBC News

South Shields fraudster stole £64k from his grandfather

An "evil" fraudster who stole £64,000 from his own grieving grandfather has been jailed for two and a half Frier, 26 and from South Shields, repeatedly lied about having a job and needing money for education courses over three and a half years, Newcastle Crown Court grandfather, who lost his wife shortly before the fraud began in 2021, said he was "ruined" with his live savings gone and him having to pay back a £4,000 loan Frier had persuaded him to take who fabricated photographs of himself pretending to be at work and created fake bank emails, admitted fraud by false representation. 'No reason to doubt' In January 2021, Frier told his family he had started work under a scholarship scheme and needed money for training courses, tuition fees and accommodation costs, prosecutor Gurjot Kaur took pictures of himself pretending to be working out at sea using equipment he took from a friend, the court grandfather, whose wife died in 2020, agreed "without hesitation" to send money and had "no reason to doubt" his grandson's claims he would be repaid once Frier was qualified, the court was of Fowler Street, took "further advantage" of his grandfather's trust by manipulating him into taking out a £4,000 bank loan, with the money then immediately transferred to the fraudster's account, Ms Kaur offending came to light in August 2024 when Frier's grandfather went into a local branch of his bank to say his grandson had asked for a further £12,000, with staff quickly recognising the emails he was showing them were scams, the court total, Frier fraudulently obtained £64,414 from his grandfather. 'Never trust him again' In statements read to the court, Frier's grandfather said he had worked hard for 49 years to build up his savings and enjoy a comfortable and "peaceful" retirement, but his grandson had taken that all away with his "evil" scheme and "betrayal".The victim said finding out his grandson had been stealing from him was "more heartbreaking" than losing his wife, adding he felt a "terrible pain of rejection and loss"."I am emotionally ruined," the man said, adding: "I will never get over this, I can never trust him again."The court heard he still having to pay off the £4,000 loan at a rate of £360 a month. In mitigation, Peter Sabiston said Frier accepted his conduct was "shameful" and he was now "completely isolated" from his own family, which was "his own fault".Recorder Christopher Knox said Frier's crime was "mean, nasty and cynical", with the fraud conducted in an elaborate, "startling and outrageous way"."You used the money to live a life you didn't deserve," the judge said."You owe money to everybody. You will never be able to enjoy the respect and affection of your family because of the cloud you have brought upon yourself."A restraining order banning Frier from contacting his grandfather was also made. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.

Cost of Sycamore Gap tree vandals' drunken stunt revealed as pair jailed
Cost of Sycamore Gap tree vandals' drunken stunt revealed as pair jailed

Daily Record

time6 days ago

  • Daily Record

Cost of Sycamore Gap tree vandals' drunken stunt revealed as pair jailed

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were both sentenced to four years and three months in prison for their 'moronic' act of chopping down the Sycamore Gap tree The reckless act that led to the destruction of the 'irreplaceable' Sycamore Gap tree will cost taxpayers nearly £1m, it has been disclosed. ‌ The 'moronic' pair, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, were accused of felling the tree for a senseless 'thrill', and then basking in the media attention, as heard by Newcastle crown court. Both men received prison sentences of four years and three months. ‌ The tree's worth was debated in court, with the prosecution estimating its value at around £458,000, down from an initial estimate of £622,000; Graham's defence argued it should be valued at about £150,000. ‌ The court was informed that the tree's value was approximately £500,000 when considering the impact on tourism and local visitors, though the exact valuation did not significantly affect the sentencing. At their final court appearance, prosecutors described their "moronic mission" to cut down the landmark, with the pair revelling in the outrage in the aftermath. The damage caused to Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as the tree fell was estimated to be over £7,000. The initial operation to secure the site and manage the tree's felling cost £30,000, reports the Mirror. The National Trust reported spending £55,000, funds drawn from their charitable donations. An additional £25,000 was spent last year dealing with the aftermath and the significant public response. Andrew Poad, National Trust manager for Northumberland where the tree was located, stated in a court impact statement that the tree's value was 'incalculable' as it was 'irreplaceable'. He said: "More than £30,000 of our revenue was taken dealing with the incident. "Another £25,000 was spent in 2025, all from National Trust charitable funds. We worked to mitigate the environmental degradation. It would be almost impossible to quantify the number of hours spent and the staffing costs. The impact has been felt every day, every hour since, staff have been working around the clock." ‌ The fortnight-long trial and exhaustive 18-month police probe is expected to burden taxpayers with costs exceeding £250,000. Graham, 39, from near Carlisle, and Carruthers, 32, of Wigton, both Cumbria, eventually confessed to being behind the crime that stunned the globe. Carruthers acknowledged operating the chainsaw whilst Graham recorded him on his mobile device, according to admissions made to probation officers ahead of their sentencing at Newcastle Crown Court this week. By that point, their 10-day trial had accumulated court expenses of approximately £3,500 daily. ‌ Three officers were assigned to the 19-month police investigation leading up to the trial. The detective leading the inquiry, DI Calum Meikle, maintained that Northumbria Police's resource allocation was justified. Legal aid costs for Graham and Carruthers are anticipated to reach £18,674.28, based on a Freedom of Information request. The duo will serve a minimum of 40 per cent of their sentence; the annual cost of their imprisonment totals £44,460. ‌ They will each serve a minimum of 20 months behind bars if they complete the minimum 40 percent of their sentences, adding another £150,000 to the combined cost of their imprisonment. Hairy Biker Si King, 58, from Northumberland, revealed to the Mirror that the financial expense paled in comparison to the emotional toll. "I just cannot get my head around it, even now the question is why did they do it? ," he said. "There is no closure because we still do not have an answer to that. It is simply madness; it was a totem somewhere between the celestial world, and the earth. It was so shocking to have that taken away." ‌ Sentencing the two former workmates, Judge Mrs Justice Lambert said: "I am confident that a major factor in your offending was sheer bravado. Felling the tree in the middle of the night and in the middle of a storm gave you some sort of thrill, as did the media coverage of your crimes over the following days. "You revelled in the coverage, taking evident pride in what you had done, knowing that you were responsible for the crime which so many were talking about. Whether bravado and thrill-seeking provide the complete explanation for what you did, I do not know. ‌ "However, as I say, I am quite sure that you are both equally culpable for the destruction of the tree and for the damage to the wall." Adam Cormack, head of campaigning at the Woodland Trust, has highlighted the public outcry over a recent crime against nature, emphasising the need for stronger legal safeguards for our 'most special and important trees'. Following a Tree Council and Forest Research review published in April, he stated: "We urge the Government to take forward the recommendations of this report. "The sentence sends a clear message that gratuitous damage and destruction of trees is unacceptable. The consequences of the felling of this iconic tree are tragic for nature, for our cultural heritage and for these two men and their families." ‌ Sycamore Gap cost breakdown £500,000 valuation of tree itself, covering loss in tourism, local visitors, cost to the UK and North east economy £7,000 damage to Hadrian's Wall Unesco World Heritage site ‌ £55,000 National Trust bill (all charitable donations) £250,000 police/courts: £200,00 police probe, £35,000 crown court costs, collection of evidence, cell site analysis. Legal aid bill so far: £18,674. £150,000 prison costs for Graham and Carruthers, based on serving 40 percent of sentence.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store