Sycamore Gap vandals handed lengthy prison sentence

The duo have been sentenced

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, have been sentenced to four years and three months each for chopping down the tree, and have been given a further six months to be served concurrently for the damage to Hadrian's Wall.

Mrs Justice Lambert says the men will serve at least 40% of their sentences in jail.

Both men denied the charges at Newcastle Crown Court, but were found guilty of two counts of criminal damage.

The pair drove from their Cumbrian home to the tree and felled it illegally in September 2023.

The tree was a landmark that had stood for more than 100 years in a dip in the hills of Hadrian's Wall, and featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.

Prosecutors said their 'moronic actions' caused £620,000 worth of damage to the tree, and a further £1,000 of damage to Hadrian's Wall.

"You Adam Carruthers were the person who felled the tree, while you Daniel Graham assisted and encouraged him by driving there and back and, not least. by filming the crime on your mobile phone," Mrs Justice Lambert said.

She added that a "major factor" in their actions was the "sheer bravado" of felling the tree, and told them that they got "a sort of thrill" from it.

"You revelled in the coverage, taking evidential pride in what you had done, knowing you were responsible for the crime everyone was talking about," she added.

Graham and Carruthers were once close friends, but over the course of the trial have come to blame each other.

The pair have not given an explanation for why they targeted the Sycamore Gap tree.

 Carruthers's barrister Andrew Gurney said that his client's actions were "nothing more than drunken stupidity."

"He felled that tree and it is something he will regret for the rest of his life. There's no better explanation than that."

Graham's barrister Christopher Knox said there was "no question of intoxication" in his case.

Prosecutor Richard Wright KC said the court "can be sure they were sober, prepared and planned to do exactly what they did."