Two men found guilty of felling Sycamore Gap tree

Two former friends have been found guilty of chopping down the Sycamore Gap tree in an act of "deliberate and mindless criminal damage".

- ALEX ROSS, ATHENA STAVROU

Ground worker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, drove overnight from Carlisle to the Northumberland landmark during Storm Agnes in September 2023, and cut down the tree with a chainsaw.

While prosecutors at Newcastle Crown Court could not be sure which of the pair cut down the tree, the jury was told that both men were jointly responsible for the "mindless vandalism".

A video was also taken of the destruction by one of the two men, the court was told, and a wedge of the tree was taken away as a "trophy". The pair's once-close friendship fell apart as the police investigation closed in on them.

At Newcastle Crown Court, a jury found Graham, from Carlisle, and Carruthers, from Wigton, in Cumbria, guilty of two counts of criminal damage each relating to the tree and the Roman wall, which the tree struck when it came down.

There was no visible reaction from either in the dock as the jury returned after just over five hours to convict them of causing £622,191 of criminal damage to the tree and £1,144 of damage to the wall. Both defendants will be sentenced on 15 July.

Ms Justice Lambert remanded both defendants until their sentencing date and warned they could face "a lengthy period in custody”.