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SBS Australia
6 days ago
- SBS Australia
Men jailed for felling UK's iconic Sycamore Gap tree
On a dark and stormy night in September 2023, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers set out with a chainsaw to bring down a tree in the British county of Northumberland. But it wasn't just any tree - it was the Sycamore Gap tree, which stood at the centre of a dramatic dip in the landscape alongside the historic World Heritage Listed Hadrian's Wall in northern England, and estimated to be around 200 years old. The sycamore even featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. "Azeem, the great wood. I am home." Both men were each convicted of two counts of criminal damage in May. The pair have now been jailed by Judge Christina Lambert for what prosecutors called their act of "mindless destruction". "Mr Daniel Graham, Mr Adam Carruthers, I pass the same sentence in respect of you. The sentence is on count one, four years and three months imprisonment." Both denied any involvement in the felling of the tree at first but evidence to the court placed both of them at the scene - which included footage on Graham's mobile phone of a tree being chainsawed in the dead of night. The court also heard the pair had bragged about what they'd done. Neither man has explained why they did it, though Carruthers' lawyer Andrew Gurney described it as "drunken stupidity". The Judge didn't accept that, ruling that it was clearly deliberate and premeditated over a tree that was beloved in the community and known across the world. "For those who live in Northumberland or who love this county, the tree had become a landmark, a symbol of the beauty of its untamed landscape, featuring prominently in local art and local tourism. For others, the tree had become a place, a special personal significance where marriages were proposed and personal tributes to loved ones were left. It was, as Mr Poad (NATIONAL TRUST MANAGER ANDREW POAD WHO GAVE EVIDENCE) observes, a place of peace and tranquillity to which people returned year after year." The Sycamore Gap tree's destruction was met with fury and dismay across the UK, as these residents told the BBC. WOMAN: "Very sad. It makes you wonder why this has happened." MAN: "It was anger initially. When I found out that it was actually malicious - like a malicious act that caused it - now it's just sad." Reaction to the sentence has been mixed. Some say the prison sentence should have been even harsher. MAN: "Terrible to be honest. Yeah, yeah. Terrible. Should have got a lot more..." WOMAN: "The sentence reflects public disgust and anger." Others believe the punishment should have been tailored to fit the crime. "I'm not sure putting them in prison is the right thing to do. I just think community service, just spending a long, long time planting trees, particularly in weather like this..." Meanwhile, work to save what's left of the iconic tree goes on. Last week, the Northumberland National Park said the largest part of the tree would go on display in an installation located not far from where it once stood. And the National Trust, a heritage conservation charity which looks after the site, has collected twigs and seeds from around the base, in the hopes of promoting regrowth. It said last August there were signs of life at the base, giving hope it might live on.
New York Times
15-07-2025
- New York Times
Men Who Felled Sycamore Gap Tree Are Given Prison Sentences in U.K.
Two men were sentenced to prison on Tuesday for felling Britain's beloved Sycamore Gap tree in 2023, an act that a judge said had caused a 'sense of loss and confusion across the world.' The men, Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each handed sentences of four years and three months during a hearing in Newcastle, in northeastern England. Under British sentencing rules for the offense they committed, criminal damage, the men could have been sent to prison for as little as six months, but Judge Christina Lambert said the 'extraordinary social impact' of their crime had made it necessary to increase their punishment. Judge Lambert said that the Sycamore Gap tree had been a 'landmark' for Northumberland and 'a symbol of the beauty of its untamed landscape,' and that for many it had been a 'place of special personal significance' as the site of marriage proposals and memorials for loved ones. She said that what had been a haven of 'peace and tranquillity to which people returned year after year' was deliberately targeted by Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Graham, who then 'reveled in their notoriety' as news spread of what they had done. The tree, which stood in a picturesque dip along Hadrian's Wall, the 70-mile fortification that once guarded the northern edge of the Roman Empire, was found illegally cut down in September 2023. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Independent
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Pair who cut down Sycamore Gap tree jailed for ‘moronic mission'
Two men, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, have been jailed for four years and three months each for felling Britain's iconic Sycamore Gap tree. The much-loved sycamore, estimated to be almost 200 years old, stood beside Hadrian's Wall and featured in the film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". Graham, 39, and Carruthers, 32, were found guilty last month of deliberately cutting down the tree with a chainsaw in September 2023, in an act of vandalism described by the prosecution as a 'moronic mission'. Judge Christina Lambert stated the men acted out of "sheer bravado" when sentencing them for the act. The felling also damaged part of Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, though there are signs of life at the tree's base and its largest part will be displayed.
