TWO former friends who were today found guilty of felling the famous Sycamore Gap tree have been told by the judge to expect “a lengthy” prison term.
Daniel Graham, 39, and 32-year-old Adam Carruthers, cut the well-known sycamore down during the early hours of September 28 2023.
Following five hours of deliberation by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court, the verdicts of guilty were heard by Mrs Justice Lambert, who then said she would pass sentence on Tuesday July 15 when pre-sentence reports would be ready for the judge.
The pair, who showed no emotion at the unanimous verdicts on two counts of criminal damage each, were remanded into custody.
Despite overwhelming evidence against them, both Graham and Carruthers denied any involvement throughout the eight-day trial.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC described the criminal act as a “moronic mission” and the “arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery” before slamming the defendants as displaying a “basic lack of decency and courage to own up to what they did”.
“Up and down the country and across the world, the reaction of all right-thinking people to the senseless felling of the Sycamore Gap tree has been one of sadness and anger,” he said.
“Who would do such a thing? Why would anyone do such a thing? Take something beautiful and destroy it for no good reason.
“Far from being the big men they thought they were, everyone else thought that they were rather pathetic.”
Superintendent Kevin Waring of Northumbria Police was equally scathing.
“We often hear references made to ‘mindless acts of vandalism’, but that term has never been more relevant than today in describing the actions of those individuals,” he said.
“At no point have the two men given an explanation for why they targeted the tree – and there never could be a justifiable one.”
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