Newcastle Court sentenced two men on Tuesday, July 15 and three months in prison for having cut the most famous tree in England near the Hadrian wall, two years after this act of vandalism that had moved beyond the United Kingdom.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, received the same penalty. They risked up to ten years in prison for what prosecutor Richard Wright described as a “stupid mission.”
Judge Christina Lambert, who condemned them, emphasized that her actions had involved a “high degree of planning and preparation” and caused “shock and astonishment.”
A very photographed tree
The “Sicomorous Gap Tree”, a majestic Arce Sycomore located for more than 100 years between two hills in a spectacular landscape of Northumberland (north), was one of the most photographed trees in England.
He was known worldwide since his appearance in “Robin des Bois: Prince des thieves” with Kevin Costner in 1991.
During the night of September 27 to 28, 2023, the two friends, armed with a chainsaw, had taken a parking lot for 40 minutes, a 20 -minute market in the dark and one of them had filmed the other while he killed the tree and then sends him the video.
They also swept a piece of the trunk as a trophy, and the damage is at least 458,000 pounds (527,000 euros) depending on the accusation.
“Only a tree”
Andrew Poad, one of the officials of the national organization of the organization, responsible for site management, spoke of an act “exceed understanding”, in a declaration read before the verdict.
The day after their mischief, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were delighted with the coverage of the media, welcoming a story that has become “viral” sending vocal messages and press articles.
But the two men never explained why they attacked the famous Sycomore.
During his judgment in May in Newcastle (Northeast), where both were guilty, Carruthers explained that he did not understand the emotion caused by the destruction of the Arce. It was “just a tree,” he said.
They have confession
After denying the facts for the first time and returning the fault, the former friends admitted to having participated in the operation. One of them said they were in poisoning, which did not convince prosecution.
Daniel Graham had already been sentenced, among other things, for public order crimes in 2021 and 2022. His mobile phone and car had been located near the site after the fall of the tree.
The Hadrian wall damaged, a Roman fortification of 135 km long built between 122 and 127 AD. AD and registered in the Unesco World Heritage list.
The jury members were able to watch a video filmed at night, in which we listened to the sound of a chainsaw, then the trunk collapsing on the ground.
Renaissance
According to Andrew Poad by National Trust, which manages many places of British inheritance, he felt an “overwhelming feeling of loss and consternation worldwide” after the destruction of the tree.
A place of marriage and family memories, extremely photogenic, the Arce had been chosen English tree of the year in 2016.
Last year, the National Trust announced that new outbreaks appeared in the tension.
He also recovered seeds and obtained 49 young plants, objects of all attention, which must be replanting next winter in accessible spaces for the public, including parks, hospitals and schools.
Part of the trunk has become a work of art, which visitors can now embrace, in the reception center of the Northumberland National Park.
In this permanent exhibition, designed by the artist Charlie Whinney, the trunk more than two meters high is surrounded by three oak banks from which visitors can read poetic soil words, linked to the initial sadness created by its destruction, organized as a branched sculpture.
Source: BFM TV
