Sycamore Gap trial live: Suspect ended friendship with co-accused because he ‘grassed him up’, jury told

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Watch full video shown at Sycamore Gap trial 'showing tree being chopped down’

A suspect in the chopping down of the famous Sycamore Gap tree ended his close friendship with the co-accused after accusing him of “grassing on me”, a jury heard.

Adam Carruthers, 32, and Daniel Graham, 39, both deny criminal damage to the sycamore tree – and Hadrian’s Wall which it struck – on the night of 27 September, 2023.

They are accused of driving from Cumbria to the site in Graham’s Range Rover before one used a chainsaw to cut down the tree, and the other filmed the act.

The prosecution has told the jury at Newcastle Crown Court that the pair’s once close bond unravelled as the “public revulsion [over the chopping down of the tree] became clear to them”.

Yesterday, Carruthers was asked why his friendship with Graham ended. He told the jury that Graham came to see him at work one night and told him: “I’m going to go my way and you’re going to go yours – I believe you have been grassing on me.”

Andrew Gurney, defending Carruthers, asked if he had “grassed him up”, and the defendant said he had not.

Carruthers, of Wigton, and Graham, of Carlisle, have said they had nothing to do with the cutting down of the tree, which was famously located for 150 years in a sloping gap of Hadrian’s Wall.

Why is the Sycamore Gap tree so famous

Situated in a sloping gap of the Hadrian’s Wall, near the village of Once Brewed, the Sycamore Gap tree became one of the most famous places in England over the past few decades.

The tree, planted 150 years ago, has always been an icon for people in the region, with many having used the site to mark birthdays, do marriage proposals and scatter ashes.

But it was in 1991 when the Sycamore Gap achieved worldwide fame, appearing in the Hollywood film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves which starred Kevin Costner. As tourists from as far away as the US flocked to see the tree, locals started calling it the “Kevin Costner tree”.

The tree’s fame was further helped thanks to the advent of social media, with photographs of the solitary tree beamed around the world on people’s phones and computers.

Sycamore Gap tree was located in a sloping dip of Hadrian’s Wall (PA)

Alex Ross7 May 2025 09:07

Defendant couldn't understand the outcry over the tree's destruction

Yesterday, while giving evidence in fifth day of the trial, defendant Adam Carruthers said he could not understand the huge outcry after it was felled, telling a court it was “just a tree”.

He is accused of chopping down the tree along with his co-accused Daniel Graham. Both deny the charge.

When asked in court why he had showed so much interest in the story of the tree being chopped down, he said: “On the morning I woke up I had looked online and it was all over Facebook. I was thinking ‘What’s going on here?’. It was everywhere.

“My understanding was it was just a tree, I couldn’t understand why everyone was sharing it, every second post, it was about this tree. I just couldn’t get my head round it.

“The way it was travelling through the news, I was amazed how something so small could create so much publicity.”

Earlier in the trial, the prosecution claimed both defendants were “revelling” in the media coverage of the tree being chopped down.

Adam Carruthers is on trial at Newcastle Crown Court (PA)

Alex Ross7 May 2025 09:05

Day 6 of Sycamore Gap trial - what to expect today

Ground worker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, are both charged with two counts of criminal damage to the sycamore and to Hadrian’s Wall, which was damaged when the tree fell on it.

So far, the jury at Newcastle Crown Court has heard evidence put forward by the prosecution, as well as from both defendants who took the witness stand.

Today, we’re expecting closing speeches to start from the prosecution and the defendants’ representatives, before the jury is sent out to consider its verdict in the case.