Video of the moment ‘totemic’ Sycamore Gap tree was cut down played in court

Mobile phone footage of the moment the famous Sycamore Gap tree was cut down and fell on to Hadrian’s Wall has been played to jurors.

Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, each deny two counts of criminal damage to the tree and the wall, overnight on September 28 2023.

Prosecutors at Newcastle Crown Court say they travelled to the location in the pitch black during Storm Agnes and used a chain saw to fell the sycamore, which then crashed on to the Roman wall.

On the second day of the trial on Wednesday, jurors were shown a two-minute and 41-second video, taken from Graham’s iPhone, of what prosecutors say is the hundred-year-old sycamore being chopped down.

Police analyst Amy 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 on Tuesday, Mr Wright described how the video “moves around and zooms in and out as the recording continues”.

About half way 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.

Jurors also heard that 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.

The court heard that 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.

Earlier, the court heard the Sycamore Gap 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).”

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.

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 trial continues.

Published: 30/04/2025 by Radio NewsHub