Two men who felled iconic UK tree to be sentenced
Two men who felled iconic UK tree to be sentenced
Two men convicted of cutting down the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree, in what a court described as a “deliberate and mindless” act of vandalism, will be sentenced on Tuesday at Newcastle Crown Court.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, once friends, were found guilty in May of criminal damage after using a chainsaw to fell the 200-year-old sycamore, a beloved national landmark that stood beside Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.
The tree’s destruction in September 2023 drew widespread condemnation both across the UK and internationally.
The pair were also convicted of damaging the Roman wall itself, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, after the tree crashed down on it during the felling. They face up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Graham and Carruthers drove to the site near Hexham in a Range Rover and completed the felling “in a matter of minutes” on the night of September 27, before returning home to Carlisle.
The National Trust, which owns the land and the tree, estimated the damage at over £622,000 to the tree and £1,144 to Hadrian’s Wall.
The organisation described the act as “needless” and deeply distressing to communities across northeast England, where the tree had long stood as a regional symbol and personal landmark.
Known worldwide for its picturesque location, the sycamore appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and was named Woodland Trust’s Tree of the Year in 2016. Its loss triggered an outpouring of grief and anger.
In a bid to preserve the legacy of the iconic tree, the National Trust has cultivated 49 saplings from its seeds and plans to plant them across the UK this winter.
A two-metre section of the felled trunk is now the centrepiece of a permanent art installation near its original location, offering visitors a place to reflect and reconnect.
