UK: Two men who cut down sycamore gap tree jailed for four years

Two men have been jailed for four years after cutting down the famous Sycamore Gap tree.

Adam Carruthers, 32, and Daniel Graham, 39, were sentenced for destroying the beloved landmark on Hadrian’s Wall.

The 100-year-old tree became iconic after featuring in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Carruthers claimed he was drunk and remembered little of what happened.

“He was drunk and doesn’t remember much,” the court heard.

His lawyer, Andrew Gurney, said: “He felled that tree and it is something he will regret for the rest of his life.

There’s no better explanation than that.
Unfortunately, it is no more than drunken stupidity.”

Carruthers described the night as “just a blur.”

But a 2-minute, 41-second video found on Graham’s phone showed the moment the tree fell.

Prosecutors also used phone data, voice notes, and ANPR footage from Graham’s black Range Rover.

The men carried tools across stormy moorland in what prosecutors called a “moronic mission.”

They removed a wedge from the tree — which has never been recovered — and spent days enjoying the media attention.

At sentencing, the two turned on each other.

Graham told probation officers that Carruthers was a “fantasist.”

He said he didn’t expect Carruthers to go through with it.

Carruthers dismissed the tree as “just a tree.”

Judge Mrs Justice Lambert disagreed.

“The act was driven by sheer bravado and a desire for thrills,” she said.

“I can now be sure you, Adam Carruthers, were the person who felled the tree.

And you, Daniel Graham, assisted and encouraged him by driving there and back — and by filming it on your phone.”

She rejected Carruthers’ excuse.

“Your account that you had so much to drink that you had no memory of what happened is not plausible,” she said.

“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.”

To Graham, she added: “Nor 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.”

The damage was valued at £622,191.

Police photos showed the scene, including the removal of the fallen tree.

It had stood for more than a century.

(Metro)

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