Two friends sent each other a series of voice notes about the Sycamore Gap tree being cut down after felling the tree onto Hadrian’s Wall, a court heard today.
Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, each deny two counts of criminal damage to the tree and the wall at night in September 2023.
Prosecutors say they travelled to the location in Northumberland during Storm Agnes and used a chainsaw to fell the sycamore, which crashed on to the Roman wall.
Mobile phone footage of the moment the famous tree was cut down has been played to jurors at Newcastle Crown Court.
On the second day of the trial today, police analyst Amy Sutherland took the jury through messages between Graham and Carruthers on the morning of September 28, 2023 about news coverage of the tree felling.
The court heard Graham sent a voicenote to Carruthers using his nickname, saying: ‘Jeffrey, it’s gone viral, it’s gone worldwide, it will be on ITV News tonight.’
Later, Graham sent a message saying: ‘Jeffrey, it’s on f***ing Sky News as we speak.’ Carruthers sent Graham a video of the Sky News channel’s rolling news banner.
In another message, Graham said to Carruthers: ‘Not a bad angle on that stump’, adding: ‘That’s clearly a professional.’
One screenshot sent by Carruthers to Graham showed Facebook comments with a circle around one that said: ‘Judging by the quality of the cut and size of tree I would say whoever it was has knowledge of how to fell large trees.’
Groundworker Daniel Graham (left), 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers (right), 32, each deny two counts of criminal damage to the tree and Hadrian’s Wall
Police officers look at the Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall on September 28, 2023
The court heard there was another comment underneath a man called Kevin Hartness saying: ‘Some weak people that walk this earth disgusting behaviour.’
Jurors were played a voice note from Graham to Carruthers saying: ‘That Kevin Hartness comment. Weak… f****** weak? Does he realise how heavy s**t is?’
Carruthers replied with his own voice note saying: ‘I’d like to see Kevin Hartness launch an operation like we did last night… I don’t think he’s got the minerals.’
The court also heard Graham’s phone contained numerous Google searches for an earlier suspect in the Sycamore Gap investigation who was later released with no further action.
Ms Sutherland said that between October 3 and October 5 searches were made on Graham’s phone for ‘Water Renwick’ and ‘Walter Renwick Plankey Mill’.
Mr Renwick was arrested on September 29, 2023 but was later told he would face no further action.
Earlier, Ms Sutherland showed the jury saved screenshots from Daniel Graham’s phone of news articles about the Sycamore Gap tree felling.
She also said YouTube history on Graham’s phone showed a search had been done for ‘police statement Sycamore Gap,’ as well as several searches simply for ‘Sycamore Gap’.
In addition, Ms Sutherland said Graham looked up an online article about the National Trust creating a replica of the fallen tree using a 3D scan.
She said that the defendants were arrested on October 31, 2023 and again on November 3.
Also today, jurors were shown a two-minute and 41-second video, taken from Graham’s iPhone, of what prosecutors say is the 100-year-old sycamore being chopped down.
Grabs from an enhanced version of mobile phone footage showing the Sycamore Gap being felled in September 2023, which has been shown at Newcastle Crown Court
Ms 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.
Ms Sutherland told the court she had been able to get the co-ordinates of where it was filmed from the metadata, and that they were for Sycamore Gap.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, told jurors earlier in the trial that 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.
Opening the case to jurors yesterday, Mr Wright described how the video ‘moves around and zooms in and out as the recording continues’.
About halfway through the video, the chainsaw quiets, Mr Wright said, and someone removes a wedge from the tree, before the machine starts up again and the sycamore falls.
The prosecutor told jurors: ‘It will be a matter for you what you think this video shows. The prosecution suggest that the video was taken by someone holding the phone in their hand.’
Jurors heard the video was filmed on Graham’s phone in ‘real time’ at 12.32am on September 28.
Police body worn video footage showing the Sycamore Gap site following the felling of the tree
Jurors were shown bodyworn camera footage from PC Peter Borini, who attended the scene
Earlier, the court heard the tree was a ‘totemic’ feature of Northumberland.
The damage caused when it was felled was valued at £622,191 for the tree and £1,144 to the wall, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
A statement by Tony Wilmott, a senior archaeologist with Historic England, said the Sycamore Gap name was coined in the 1980s and over the decades it has become one of Northumberland’s most appreciated features.
He said: ‘Its unmistakable profile has been repeated in many media and because of this it has become totemic.
‘It has become a place of marriage proposals, family visits and even the location of ashes to be spread. The place is much loved by many thousands of people.’
He said the location’s reputation was spread after it featured in the film Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman.
A statement from archaeologist and inspector for Historic England Lee McFarlane, said the significance of Hadrian’s Wall was ‘internationally recognised’ and it was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987.
The statement said: ‘Hadrian’s Wall marks one of the frontiers of the Roman empire and the importance of the surviving remains has been recognised through (the Unesco designation).’
A court artist’s sketch of Daniel Graham (left) and Adam Carruthers (right) at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on February 15, 2024
Ms McFarlane said some of the stones in Hadrian’s Wall were damaged when the tree was felled, as it landed across the wall itself, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
She said it was fortunate the tree was still in full leaf as the crown of the tree appeared to have acted as a ‘cushion’ and that the damage could have been ‘catastrophic’ otherwise.
The court heard that after numerous social media posts about the tree being cut down were circulated, Pc Peter Borini arrived at the scene on the morning of September 28.
In a statement to the court, he said rangers were ‘visibly upset’ at what they saw.
He cordoned off the scene and took sawdust and bark samples, but could not find a wedge from the trunk that was removed in the felling process.
Ian Everard, who has worked for the Forestry Commission for more than 36 years, examined the tree and the photographs.
The Sycamore Gap tree was well-known and featured in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
In a statement, he said the ‘hinge and wedge’ technique had been used in the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, which involves making a notch in the falling direction, and allows the direction in which the tree will fall to be predicted.
National Trust general manager Andrew Poad said the wall and the tree belonged to the trust, and no-one had been authorised to damage either of them.
In his statement, he said it was believed that the tree was planted in the 1800s by previous landowner John Clayton, ‘to be a feature in the landscape’.
Mr Poad said the National Trust bought the site in 1942.
The court also heard Carruthers became a father for the second time only 12 days before the tree was felled.
In a series of agreed facts read out by Rebecca Brown, junior prosecution counsel, the dates of birth of his children were given, with one child being aged five at the time and one born on September 16, 2023.
Miss Brown said Carruthers had no previous convictions, reprimands, warnings or cautions.
The trial will continue at 10am tomorrow.