Five things you may have missed in Sycamore Gap trial

The tree at Sycamore Gap took well over a century to grow and just minutes to cut down.

It was globally renowned, standing as it did at the edge of the Roman frontier in northern England, and had been depicted countless times in photographs, paintings and films.

Overnight on 27 September 2023, under the cover of darkness, someone chopped it down, sparking international outrage and condemnation.

Over the last week, Newcastle Crown Court has been hearing the trial of the two men who deny felling the tree.

Here's some of what jurors have been told so far.

• For a blow-by-blow account of what's been heard in court over the last few days, click here

Prosecutors allege Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, carried out the "moronic mission".

The prosecution say that while one felled the tree with a chainsaw, the other filmed it on Mr Graham's phone - something they both deny.

Police discovered a two minute and 41 second-long video a month later when they arrested Mr Graham and seized his phone.

The original video is dark, just the sounds of a chainsaw followed by the crashing fall of a tree and then silence, broken only by the wind blowing at the remote spot.

An enhanced version was shown to jurors, with the video's metadata showing it was filmed at about 00:30 BST at the exact coordinates of the much-loved tree.

When quizzed by police about how the video got on his phone, Mr Graham repeatedly answered "no comment".

The tree was felled using a "hinge-and-wedge" technique, the court heard.

A forestry expert said it would have been "unequivocally obvious" it would topple northwards, with the bottom of its severed trunk falling on the Roman wall and causing £1,144 worth of damage.

To facilitate the fall, a large wedge had to be cut out of the trunk, which prosecutors say the defendants took away with them as a "trophy".

A picture was taken a couple of hours later on Mr Graham's phone, showing a large chunk of wood and chainsaw in the back of his Range Rover.

A forensic botanist said there was "very strong evidence" the wedge had come from the Sycamore Gap tree.

Neither the wedge nor the chainsaw have been found by police.

Cell site analysis, which tracks the movements of a mobile phone, and automatic number plate recognition cameras, which follow the progress of a car, have been repeatedly referred to.

In short, Mr Graham's phone and car were both monitored travelling towards Sycamore Gap from his home in Carlisle before the felling, then returning westward afterwards, the court heard.

A pair of headlights were also captured on CCTV from the nearby Twice Brewed Inn heading towards Steel Rigg, the closest public car park to the tree, just before midnight, returning about an hour later.

Prosecutors say Mr Graham and his good friend Mr Carruthers, from Wigton in Cumbria, had been in regular phone contact during the day but that stopped at 22:23, strongly suggesting they were together from then on.

Messages exchanged between Mr Carruthers and his partner also showed he was not at home that night, the court heard.

On 28 September 2023, the world awoke to find the tree had been felled.

Initial speculation was that it had come down in Storm Agnes, which had blown through that night, but it quickly became apparent the tree had been deliberately and illegally felled, jurors heard.

The two defendants rapidly began swapping screenshots of social media posts and press reports on their phones, the court heard.

"Here we go," Mr Graham wrote to his co-accused.

One person had commented on Facebook that there were "some weak people that walk this earth, disgusting behaviour".

Mr Graham sent a voice note to Mr Carruthers saying: "Weak? Does he realise how heavy [stuff] is?"

Mr Carruthers replied: "I'd like to see [the man] launch an operation like we did last night, I don't think he's got the minerals."

He said it was being reported on multiple news channels, adding: "It's going to go wild."

Mr Graham replied: "It's gone viral, it is worldwide."

Prosecutors said the men were "revelling in" the outrage, but their close friendship would unravel as the "public revulsion became clear to them".

So far, the jury has only heard from Daniel Graham.

He spent more than three hours in the witness box, during which he said his once "best pal" Carruthers had felled the tree.

Mr Graham claimed he had been asleep in his caravan the whole night while Mr Carruthers and an associate took his Range Rover, which also contained his phone, over to Sycamore Gap and back, without his knowledge.

He said Mr Carruthers was fascinated with the tree and had previously mentioned felling it, with Mr Graham claiming he had in fact never heard of the world famous tree until his co-accused told him about it.

In the aftermath, he claimed his friend asked him to "take the blame" as police would be more lenient on him because of his "mental health issue", a claim which was labelled "not true" by Mr Carruthers' barrister.

Mr Graham also admitted making an anonymous call to police to point the finger at Mr Carruthers, claiming he had to as detectives had not listened to him before.

Jurors have also heard the two men's police interviews.

In his, Mr Graham said he was the victim of a smear campaign on Facebook, the accusations being the latest exchange in a feud with others in which he and Mr Carruthers were embroiled.

Mr Carruthers said he had used chainsaws but never been trained, adding they were "nasty things" and he could not recall ever felling a tree.

Both men deny causing criminal damage to the tree and Roman wall.

The trial continues.

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