TWO MEN HAVE been found guilty of cutting down the famous Sycamore Gap tree in an act of “deliberate and mindless criminal damage”.

Former friends Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers drove through a storm for 30 miles in the middle of the night on 27 September 2023 from their homes in Cumbria to the landmark in Northumberland.

One of the men then cut down the tree with a chainsaw while the other filmed it. Newcastle Crown Court heard that the pair had kept a wedge of the trunk as a trophy and spent the next day “revelling” in the news reports about their “moronic mission”. 

Today, groundworker Graham, 39, and mechanic Carruthers, 32, were each found guilty of two counts of criminal damage – one to the much-photographed tree and and one to Hadrian’s Wall, which was damaged when the sycamore fell on it.

The jury returned after just over five hours of deliberations to convict them of causing £622,191 (€734,140) of criminal damage to the tree and £1,144 (€1,350) of damage to the wall.

End of Friendship

The trial heard that the “odd” couple’s friendship fell apart by the time their case was brought to court. Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said both men had blamed each other for the damage. 

Graham accused Carruthers of taking his Range Rover and mobile phone to Sycamore Gap that night without his knowledge, saying he had now turned on his former friend because his business was being affected by Carruthers’ actions.

File photos of Daniel Graham, 39,(left) and Adam Carruthers, 32, who fell out of friendship following their arrests. Alamy Alamy

Graham claimed during his evidence that Carruthers had a fascination with the sycamore, saying he had described it as “the most famous tree in the world” and spoken of wanting to cut it down.

Carruthers denied this. He told the court he could not understand the outcry over the story, saying it was “just a tree”.

Graham’s account was contradicted by the evidence. The court heard that his vehicle was picked up by automatic number plate recognition camera between his hometown and the Sycamore Gap on the night of the incident and returning the next morning.

Following their arrests, police obtained a near-three-minute video which showed the sycamore being cut down at 12.30am on 28 September on Graham’s phone, which had subsequently been sent to Carruthers.

Messages and voice notes between Graham and Carruthers the next day showed them talking about the story going “wild” and “viral”, referring to “an operation like we did last night” and joking that damage looked like it had been done by a professional.

They also found photos and videos of the wedge of tree trunk and a chainsaw in the boot of Graham’s Range Rover. These were never retrieved.

They will be sentenced on 15 July.