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Sycamore Gap tree accused: 'I was asked to take the blame'
The Guardian
|May 03, 2025
One of the two men accused of felling the Sycamore Gap tree has denied being responsible and said he was asked to take the blame because he had mental health problems.
Daniel Graham said his co-defendant, Adam Carruthers, was responsible for felling the tree next to Hadrian's Wall.
He said Carruthers called it "the most famous tree in the world" and had a sentimental attachment to a length of string which he once used to measure its circumference.
Graham, 39, and Carruthers, 32, were once good friends and are jointly charged with criminally felling the tree and damaging the Roman wall on which it stood.
On day four of their trial at Newcastle crown court, Graham, who ran a groundwork business, gave evidence and accepted that his Range Rover car was used to drive to and from the tree and that his Apple iPhone was used to film its felling.
This story is from the May 03, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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