Men accused of felling Sycamore Gap tree filmed 'moronic mission' on a phone, jury told | ITV News
Two men went on a “moronic mission” to fell the famous Sycamore Gap tree in an act of “mindless vandalism” which they filmed on a phone, a jury at Newcastle Crown Court has been told.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers used a chainsaw to chop down the tree and “the technique that they used showed expertise and a determined, deliberate approach to the felling”, prosecutors said.
Opening the prosecution case, Richard Wright KC told the jury: “One of the men cut across the trunk, causing the sycamore to fall and hit Hadrian’s Wall, while the other defendant filmed what they were doing on Graham’s mobile phone.”
Graham, 39, of Millbeck Stables, Carlisle, and Carruthers, 32, of Church Street, Wigton, Cumbria, deny two counts each of criminal damage.
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