BEINSMARTSIDE UK Moment Sycamore Gap tree is ‘felled by two friends’ shown to court

Moment Sycamore Gap tree is ‘felled by two friends’ shown to court

April 30, 2025April 30, 2025 | .. | 0 Comment | 12:46 pm
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Footage of the Sycamore Gap tree being cut down in less than three minutes has been played in court.

Daniel Graham, 39 and Adam Carruthers, 32, have been charged with two counts each of criminal damage – one to the tree and one to Hadrian’s Wall after the tree fell on it.

Jurors have been shown a two-minute and 41-second video, taken from Graham’s iPhone, of what prosecutors say is the hundred-year-old sycamore being chopped down.

Police analyst Amy Sutherland said the video was in the download section of Graham’s phone, which was taken from his jacket pocket.

She said it was in darkness but that ‘sounds of a chainsaw’ could be heard.

epa10888045 Police on the scene with the remains of the tree at Sycamore Gap next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, Britain, 28 September 2023. The tree appeared in Kevin Costner's 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves and was part of the landscape for 200 years. The National Trust confirmed that the tree had been cut down overnight and according to Northumbria Police, a 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree. EPA/Adam Vaughan
Police on the scene with the remains of the tree at Sycamore Gap next to Hadrian’s Wall (Picture: EPA)
Daniel Graham, who is accused of felling the Sycamore Gap tree. Taken from Facebook
Adam Carruthers, who is accused of felling the Sycamore Gap tree (Picture: Facebook )

Ms Sutherland told the court she had been able to get the co-ordinates of where it was filmed from the metadata, and that the co-ordinates were for Sycamore Gap.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said the video had been enhanced by a Northumbria Police expert but was still ‘extremely dark’.

Although what appears to be the outline of a tree can be seen, initially upright, before falling to the ground by the end of the clip.

What prosecutors say is the ‘unmistakable sound of a chainsaw’ can be heard.

The video was shown to jurors twice – once showing the dark, raw footage, and a second time after it had been enhanced by a police specialist.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 27: Daniel Graham leaves after attending the Sycamore Gap tree felling pre-trial at Newcastle Crown Court on August 27, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham are accused of causing ??622,191 damage to the iconic tree that used to stand in Sycamore Gap, they are also accused of causing ??1,144 damage to Hadrian's Wall. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Daniel Graham has been charged with two counts each of criminal damage (Picture: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
File photo dated 29/09/23 of forensic investigators from Northumbria Police examining the felled Sycamore Gap tree, on Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland. Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, are on trial at Newcastle Crown Court charged with two counts each of criminal damage. They are jointly charged with causing criminal damage worth ?622,191 to the much-photographed Northumberland tree. Issue date: Tuesday April 29, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story COURTS SycamoreGap. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire
(Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

In the enhanced black and white version, with audio of wind blowing and a chainsaw buzzing, a figure can been seen working at the trunk of the tree, before it finally crashes to the ground.

Mr Wright said the original video was enhanced by changing the contrast, putting a border around the frame and brightening the film ‘so it could be seen more clearly’.

Opening the case to jurors on Tuesday, Mr Wright described how the video ‘moves around and zooms in and out as the recording continues’.

About half way through the video, the chainsaw quietens and someone removes a wedge from the tree, before the machine starts up again and the sycamore falls.

He said: ‘The prosecution suggest that the video was taken by someone holding the phone in their hand.’

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