Sycamore Gap felling ‘little bit of fun’ to accused, says prosecutor

Two males chopped down the arena well-known Sycamore Gap tree as a “bit of a laugh” after which feared turning into public enemy primary, prosecutors have instructed jurors.

The tree had grown in a dip on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland for greater than 100 years ahead of it was once felled in a “moronic mission” within the early hours of 28 September 2023, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.

Daniel Michael Graham, 39, from Carlisle, and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, every deny two counts of prison injury in the case of the tree and the Roman Wall.

In last speeches, prosecutors stated the pair performed the “arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery”, whilst the boys’s barristers reiterated their innocence.

Jurors had been prior to now instructed the tree was once a much-loved landmark and had world importance for its place at the former frontier of the Roman empire.

Mr Graham’s telephone and Range Rover had been each tracked going to and from the website, whilst a video, which prosecutors allege displays the instant the tree was once felled, was once filmed on his cell, the court docket has heard.

{A photograph} was once then taken on Mr Graham’s telephone of a wedge of wooden, which prosecutors say was once a “trophy” taken by way of the boys, within the boot of his automotive, jurors have heard.

Both males deny any involvement in any respect with the felling and declare they had been every at their respective properties all night time.

Mr Graham has instructed jurors his “best pal” Mr Carruthers admitted doing it and took his automotive to get to the scene, whilst Mr Carruthers stated he had “no clue” who was once accountable and his co-accused was once mendacity.

In his last speech, prosecutor Richard Wright KC stated the “two-man team” and “odd couple” had observed it as “just a tree” and “they must have thought that this was a bit of a laugh”.

But, he stated, that they had no longer liked the general public’s outrage on the destruction of “something so beautiful for no good reason”.

“From Felixstowe to Falkirk and from Bishop Auckland to Barnstable, up and down this country and across the world, the reaction of all right-thinking people to the senseless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has been one of sadness and anger,” Mr Wright stated.

He stated the video the pair allegedly filmed of “the moment the world famous tree was cut down” was once “gold dust” and would have “gone viral”.

Mr Graham and Mr Carruthers had been the one folks on the earth who had that video on their telephones and who knew what had took place to the tree, Mr Wright stated, and consistent with them it will have to simply be a “freak coincidence”.

The prosecutor stated each males had instructed lies as, having observed the furore they brought about, they didn’t have the braveness to confess what that they had executed.

“Owning up to this arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery would make them public enemy number one,” Mr Wright stated.

He stated Mr Graham was once “evasive” and “ducked questions by throwing insults or becoming threatening” right through the trial.

Mr Wright stated it was once “rather odd” that Mr Graham claimed he had no longer heard of the tree till Mr Carruthers instructed him about it in 2021 when the yr ahead of he had reported a automotive stolen from Steel Rigg, the nearest public automotive park to the tree.

He stated Mr Carruthers’ taste in court docket may were other and not more combative however he were similarly unhelpful to jurors.

His telephone was once tracked travelling to and from close to Sycamore Gap the afternoon ahead of the tree was once felled, which Mr Carruthers claimed was once him embarking on after which aborting a three-hour spherical shuttle to the Metrocentre together with his spouse and their new-born child.

Mr Wright stated that declare was once “nonsense” and “actually he was going on a recce”.

The prosecutor stated each males “knew exactly what they were doing” and had been “in the business of cutting down big trees together”.

He stated in addition they knew there was once a typhoon coming that night time which will be the “perfect weather for cutting down a big tree” because the wind would have driven the trunk clear of falling again directly to the noticed, thereby lowering the quantity of kit wanted.

Mr Wright stated the one explanation why to remove the wedge minimize out of the tree was once as a “souvenir and trophy”.

The prosecutor stated the defendants had been “best mates” and “obsessively close friends” who, ahead of they fell out “spectacularly” within the aftermath, did the whole lot in combination, the “ultimate two-man team”.

Messages the boys exchanged within the aftermath confirmed them “revelling in” what that they had executed, the prosecutor stated.

Christopher Knox, barrister for Mr Graham, stated his shopper’s place was once that he was once no longer concerned in any respect and Mr Carruthers and a 2d thriller guy had been accountable.

Mr Knox stated no “sensible reason” were steered for why Mr Graham would need to fell the tree however Mr Carruthers had “some sort of thing” for the landmark and possessed the package and capacity to fell it.

He stated it was once “extraordinary” when Mr Carruthers instructed jurors he concept it was once “just a tree” and that can were a clue as to why his shopper’s co-accused sought after to fell it.

Mr Knox stated Mr Graham admitted he had lied to hide up for his “erstwhile very good friend”, with the pair being “reasonably isolated figures”.

Andrew Gurney, representing Mr Carruthers, stated the massive query everybody had was once “why was the tree cut down”, however his shopper may no longer “answer that question because it wasn’t him”.

He stated Mr Carruthers had “no motive” for felling the sycamore tree and were named by way of Mr Graham as a “scapegoat”.

Mr Gurney stated the one proof towards Mr Carruthers was once a collection of messages, calls and a temporary voice word between him and Mr Graham, towards whom the proof was once “overwhelming”.

“Guilt by association would be a miscarriage of justice,” Mr Gurney stated, including there was once “no evidence” of his shopper on the scene or forensic hyperlink to the crime.

He stated Mr Graham was once “caught in the middle of this” and had “reached desperately for a lifeline”, looking for to “throw [Mr Carruthers] under the bus to save his own skin”.

Mr Gurney stated Mr Carruthers was once at house together with his spouse and 11-day outdated daughter that night time and it made “no sense” for him to be “creeping around a national park in the dead of night” or “galivanting around the countryside cutting down” bushes.

He stated there was once “no doubt” Mr Carruthers instructed lies to the police nevertheless it was once the primary time he were in an interview and he was once “nervous and scared” that admitting his enjoy with chainsaws would put him “in the frame”.

The trial continues.