Sycamore Gap accused thought it was 'just a tree'

A second man accused of felling the world famous Sycamore Gap has told jurors he was amazed at the public's reaction as he thought it was "just a tree".

The tree had grown in a dip on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland for more than 100 years before it was felled in a "moronic mission" in 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, each deny two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and the Roman Wall.

Mr Carruthers told jurors he had "no clue" who did it.

Jurors were previously told the tree was a much-loved landmark and had global significance for its position on the former frontier of the Roman empire.

• Live coverage of the trial
• Five things from the Sycamore Gap trial

Mr Graham's phone and Range Rover were both tracked going to and from the site, while a video, which prosecutors allege shows the moment the tree was felled, was filmed on his mobile, the court has heard.

A wedge of wood was taken as a "trophy" and photographed hours later alongside a chainsaw in the boot of Mr Graham's car, prosecutors have said.

Mr Graham previously told jurors he had been asleep that night and Mr Carruthers must have taken his car and phone without his knowledge.

On the sixth day of the trial, Mr Carruthers took to the witness box where he started by denying he had anything to do with felling the tree or filming it.

His barrister Andrew Gurney asked why Mr Carruthers seemed so interested in the aftermath, exchanging screenshots of social media posts and press reports with his co-accused and swapping voice notes discussing it.

Mr Carruthers said he just "couldn't understand" the hysteria he was seeing on Facebook and he had wanted to talk about it with his friend.

"I didn't understand how a tree would be able to hit the headlines as much as it did," he said. "It was almost as if someone had been murdered."

He was asked about a voice note in which he said an online commenter, who criticised the vandals, lacked the "minerals" to "launch an operation like we did".

Mr Carruthers told jurors: "I think it's been interpreted wrong."

He said he had actually meant to say "he" instead of "we," referring to whoever who had felled the tree although he had "no idea" who that might be.

Mr Graham had also claimed Mr Carruthers was fascinated with the tree, treasured a piece of string he had used to measure its circumference and had "mentioned" cutting it down, then admitted he had done so in a call to Mr Graham the morning after and later asked his friend to "take the blame".

Mr Carruthers told jurors none of that was true.

He also told the court he had used a chainsaw to trim trees but never to fell one.

In cross-examination, prosecutor Richard Wright KC asked Mr Carruthers who felled the tree.

Mr Carruthers replied he had "no clue at all", adding: "It wasn't me."

He said he thought it was "just a tree" but then, the morning after it was felled, started seeing news reports and public comments appearing "more and more" on social media.

The prosecutor suggested that was what was at the "heart" of the case.

"You thought 'it's just a tree'.

"When the rest of the world didn't think it was just a tree, that it was a terrible and wicked thing to have done, you have lost your bottle and can't own up to it?"

Mr Carruthers replied: "That's not true."

He was asked about mobile phone tracking data which showed him travelling to a spot about four miles way from the tree the afternoon before it was felled.

Mr Graham's legal team suggested he was "doing a reconnoitre" of the tree, but Mr Carruthers claimed he was taking his partner and their new-born daughter on an impromptu excursion to the Metrocentre for food, turning around when the baby would not settle.

Mr Wright asked if there were not restaurants in Carlisle they could have visited rather than make a three-hour round trip on an afternoon when storms were forecast to hit the area.

Mr Carruthers replied the restaurants in Carlisle were "not the best" and the Metrocentre would be better.

The trial continues.

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