Two men who cut down Sycamore Gap tree jailed for four years

After downing a bottle of whisky at the end of a tough day, Adam Carruthers says he remembers almost nothing of what happened next.

But he will never forget the consequences.

The 32-year-old from Cumbria now has what may be the longest hangover in history – a four-year prison sentence for helping to cut down one of the UK’s most iconic trees.

Carruthers and his (now former) friend Daniel Graham, 39, have been jailed for destroying the Sycamore Gap tree – a symbol of the Northumberland landscape seen by millions and immortalised in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

In court today, Carruthers finally gave an explanation – or at least an excuse – for the mindless act of thuggery that sparked national outrage and global headlines.

He was drunk, and doesn’t remember much.

His barrister, Andrew Gurney, said: ‘He felled that tree and it is something he will regret for the rest of his life. There’s no better explanation than that. Unfortunately, it is no more than drunken stupidity.’

Carruthers was so drunk from that bottle of whiskey, he says, that the night is just ‘a blur’.

But a two-minute, 41-second video on Graham’s phone captured what neither could deny: the moment the 100-year-old sycamore came crashing down on Hadrian’s Wall in the early hours of September 28, 2023.

The video, along with voice notes, phone data, and Graham’s black Range Rover being spotted by ANPR cameras on the way formed the heart of the prosecution case.

They hauled equipment across storm-lashed moorland to carry out what prosecutors called a ‘moronic mission’.

They even took a wedge of the felled tree, which has never been recovered, then spent days revelling in the attention, gloating about the media frenzy their actions had caused.

But then the pressure of fame consumed them, and when it came to judgement day they turned on one another.

To probation, Graham branded Carruthers a ‘fantasist’, saying he ‘went with him that night not thinking that he would go through with the plan’.

Carruthers dismissed it as ‘just a tree’.

But Judge Mrs Justice Lambert was not swayed by their excuses telling them both the act was driven by ‘sheer bravado’ and a desire for thrills.

She said: ‘I can now be sure you, Adam Carruthers, were the person who felled the tree and you, Daniel Graham, assisted and encouraged him by driving there and back and not least by filming it on your phone.’

The judge added: ‘Although there may be grains of truth in what you said, I do not accept your explanations are wholly honest or the whole story.

‘Adam Carruthers, your account that you had so much to drink that you had no memory of what happened is not plausible.

‘The tree felling demonstrated skill and required deliberate and co-ordinated actions by you… It was not the work of someone whose actions were significantly impaired through drink.

‘Nor, Daniel Graham, do I accept you just went along with your co-defendant. You filmed the whole event, you took photos of the chainsaw and wedge of trunk in the boot of your Range Rover.

‘The next day, you appeared to revel in coverage of your actions in the media.

‘This is not the behaviour of someone who is shocked and horrified by what has happened.’

For Carruthers, a father-of-two, it will be his first time in prison. He said being separated from his children since being remanded in May had been ‘torture’. Meanwhile, Graham said he was only along for the ride, despite evidence revealing that he filmed everything.

Since then, his business and home have been attacked and he’s received hate mail.

However, for many it is hard to sympathise. Andrew Poad, from the National Trust, said the tree was ‘totemic’ and belonged to the people.

He said: ‘An overwhelming sense of loss and confusion was felt across the world. The question was why anyone would do this to such a beautiful tree in such a special place.

‘It was beyond comprehension.’

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