The two men who cut down the Sycamore Gap tree were investigated after a man was doused in icing sugar in an alleged homophobic attack.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, cut down the tree at Hadrian’s Wall in September 2023.
But nine days earlier a man reported being subject to verbal abuse and attacked with icing sugar at a layby in Cumbria.
He told the BBC: ‘There was a knock on my window. I looked across and there was this black jeep, so I wound my window down and the passenger got quite homophobic with me.’
A bag of sugar was then allegedly thrown into his car before the other vehicle drove off.
The victim reported the incident to the police the same night, telling officers the registration number.
But he was unable to confidently identify the attackers, and officers did not check CCTV.
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Cumbria Police said they had investigated the incident, but the registration number given to them – which differed from that of Graham’s car by one letter – had not even been in the county.
Two men were arrested in connection with the attack in April 2024, with video evidence found in one of the suspect’s phones.
The victim was shown the footage, which consisted of 10 to 12 videos of various men suffering homophobic abuses and having things thrown at their vehicles.
Speaking of one video in particular, he said: ‘I could see the fear in [the victim’s] eyes. It was quite nasty, and it was all homophobic.’
In December the case was presented to the Crown prosecution Service relating to the attacks, but they decided against bringing charged to identify the attackers as too much time has lapsed.
The victim challenged their decision, which meant he had to be told the names of the suspects.
Police told him the CPS’s decision was ‘disappointing’ and name Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers as the suspects.
He said: ‘I knew the names were in my mind somewhere. I Googled it and my words were “oh my God”, I realised who they were.’
The initial ruling to not charge the pair has still been upheld.
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