Sycamore Gap accused: 'I was framed by someone stirring the pot'

A MAN accused of chopping down the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree told police he was being framed by someone as part of a feud.

- By Paul Jeeves Crime Editor

Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, said he knew how to cut down trees and had three or four chainsaws but insisted he was not trained to fell anything as large as the 100-year-old sycamore beside Hadrian's Wall.

He and his former friend Adam Carruthers, 32, each deny two counts of causing criminal damage. Jurors have heard they blame each other.

The prosecution say they travelled from Carlisle to the Northumberland landmark in Graham's Range Rover during Storm Agnes in 2023 and used a chainsaw to fell the tree, which crashed on to the Roman wall.

Video of the moment was filmed on a mobile phone belonging to Graham.