- 7 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:01Work to remove the sycamore gap tree from Hadrian's wall began earlier.
00:06A crane was brought in to take the trunk away due to its size and weight.
00:11You know, today really feels a bit like, it's a bit like going to a funeral, I think.
00:17I was 100% in mourning.
00:22I actually used to drive past the tree on the way to work.
00:27And I would have posted on social media and say, hey, the tree's looking good today.
00:31And it would get thousands of reactions.
00:36It was really sad to see it being taken away.
00:40I wasn't functioning properly actually. I wasn't myself.
00:44He had a starring role in a Kevin Costner movie.
00:49Two more people have been arrested over the deliberate felony.
00:52It came out that two people were being arrested.
00:54Nobody knew them. No one's seen them in here before.
00:57They weren't even from the area.
00:58You know, and I was thinking, that's a bit far-fetched.
01:00They're clearly professionals.
01:02They're probably going to work really hard to make sure that they're not able to be caught.
01:06Take me on my phone, Dan.
01:08Dan has said we won't find anything on his phone. However...
01:11Potentially, you've got fantastic evidence.
01:18That's what my guts have got to do with me.
01:21This was going to completely turn their lives upside down.
01:24The forensic plot nest was able to say that that wedge had been removed from the tree at the sycamore gap.
01:49But I needed to identify the vehicle that it was in.
01:59I needed an expert to confirm somehow that the image of the saw and the wedge was taken in the boot space of the Black Range Rover Sport seized from Daniel Graham.
02:11At the time, I wasn't really given that much information about this case at all.
02:17All I knew was related to criminal damage and that there was an image.
02:21And I was asked to compare that with CSI photographs of this recovered Range Rover.
02:27The luxury in this case was that the imagery is of very high quality and the lighting conditions are also very good.
02:40So if we actually zoom in into this image, we can see crux patterns of rust, wear and tear.
02:48So, you know, these are details that, in reality, you very rarely get to see.
03:00I was given CSI photographs showing all the features.
03:07Once we have them side by side, the one feature that really stood out was this quite unique-looking crack at the door latch.
03:17This crack is actually very unique, very similar to a fingerprint, because it's not just a linear crack.
03:25It's got a lot of different angles. It changes in its form from left to right.
03:30So there's a lot of detail overall.
03:32We were able to match the position and the form throughout the crack in both sets of images.
03:38In this instance, the evidence was so strong that, in my opinion, there was no doubt that the two sets of images belong to the same vehicle.
03:52Emil Polito confirmed that the photograph matched Daniel Graham's Range Rover Sport.
04:07But I asked him to look at the metadata ingrained within the image.
04:14A lot of people would actually be surprised how much data you can get from an image.
04:19There's a lot of contextual information that you can find from metadata.
04:23For example, the GPS coordinates of where the image was taken,
04:28which we can then map to a mapping service and find out the exact address of where that image was taken.
04:36The GPS pin dropped beautifully to the middle of Daniel Graham's yard.
04:44It was a satisfying moment.
04:54I had this photograph with the wedge on his phone, in his yard, in his car.
05:03In relation to the video, it also had associated metadata,
05:09which showed that it was recorded on that telephone at 32 minutes past midnight in the early hours of the 28th.
05:18But very significantly, it showed that that phone was positioned at the Sycamore Gap.
05:28The pieces for the jigsaw were starting to slot very nicely together.
05:33So, on the 3rd of November, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were arrested for further interviews.
05:46I hadn't done a serious category crime interview before.
05:50However, it was decided between Becky and Callum that I should give the opportunity to interview them.
05:57So, I was quite apprehensive, you know, we just didn't know what was going to happen.
06:06The time is 15.01.
06:10We chose to interview Dan first because the evidence had been on his phone.
06:15So, you're further arrested due to further evidence coming to light for criminal damage in relation to the,
06:25to the world famous Sycamore tree being felled, all right?
06:30He was instantly hostile.
06:33He didn't want to sit and face us.
06:34He didn't want to look directly at us.
06:37He was already quite angry that he had been rearrested again within a week.
06:41So, this is a video taken from your phone.
06:56Dan didn't seem very interested.
06:59He wasn't shocked.
07:01He didn't say, where's that come from?
07:03Have you definitely found that on my phone?
07:05So, that video, what can you tell me about it?
07:08I can't tell you nothing about it because I couldn't see it.
07:11What about the audio?
07:13None of my saws that you've got sound or anything like that.
07:17What about any saws of your associates?
07:21No problem.
07:25Can you do something with this video and give this light?
07:27We can.
07:28Because I'm pretty sure you're going to be able to see what the person is watching.
07:29Yeah.
07:31He said, if we lightened that video, we would see somebody next to it.
07:36Which me and my colleague was just shocked about.
07:39Is he now saying that he knows that someone's standing next to that tree, cutting that tree down?
07:45We believe that that's a video of the Sycamore Gap tree being felled.
07:50Do anything you want to say to that?
07:53No problem.
07:55That's when we're thinking he knows a lot more about this video than he wants to let on about.
08:02So, these are two images that were located on the mobile phone that this is from, yes?
08:09What can you tell us about these?
08:10No problem.
08:13Have you seen these images before?
08:15No problem.
08:17Do you recognise that soul?
08:18No problem.
08:20Has someone else taken these pictures on your phone?
08:35You are the owner of Black Range Rover?
08:37Yeah.
08:38Yeah.
08:39Are you on the Black Range Rover spot?
08:41On the night in question, were you driving that vehicle?
08:44No.
08:46Has I had enough access to it?
08:49No comment.
08:51So, we've got CCTV footage of said vehicle in the area where the tree was felled late on the 27th, going into the 28th.
08:59It doesn't mean I'm doing a crime, does it?
09:02No.
09:03It doesn't mean I've done a crime.
09:04No, but I'm asking you...
09:05I understand what you're saying.
09:06I understand what you're saying.
09:07But, like, there's kids involved there, there's kids involved in all this shit.
09:12Right.
09:13That's all I'm going to say to that.
09:14Do you know?
09:15So, for the rest of that comment there, no comment.
09:17I'm not trying to be horrible.
09:18I'm going to take it personally.
09:19Don't worry about that.
09:20Believe me, I'm not very happy with myself.
09:22Right.
09:23Do you want to expand on that?
09:24Because you said that kids were involved.
09:27That's all I'm going to say on them.
09:29Right.
09:30So, you're saying that?
09:32We obviously know that Adam has children.
09:35We felt strongly that he was trying to throw us in a direction of Adam.
09:42Was he trying to distance himself from this case?
09:46I mean, this is your interview. This is your chance to find an account.
09:49I'm not going to be a space like, how you're going to focus on one's life.
09:52And I'm not going to destroy kids' lives either.
09:53So, we'll just cut off on that.
09:58Are you denying, denying being responsible for filling the tree?
10:02One thousand percent.
10:03I'll tell you someone now.
10:04Was not me stood by that tree of a change.
10:05So, I was not me stood looking at that tree.
10:07All right.
10:08Mm-hm.
10:10See how it looks.
10:11My mobile phone.
10:13My vehicle.
10:14Yeah.
10:16It doesn't look good, does it?
10:17I'm not sure what I am at this point now.
10:19I don't give a fuck how it looks if you're under charge.
10:21But you're fucking charged for doing what you just want, all right?
10:23I know what I've done and what I haven't done.
10:26Now, I had no reason on this planet to go and fell that fucking tree, all right?
10:29I've never been a fucking grass.
10:31And I'm not going to start fucking grassing on Tom, Dick and Ali,
10:33or whoever they are.
10:34It doesn't matter, all right?
10:35I'm not going to start wrecking people's families and all this.
10:38If I've got to take the blame, it is what it is.
10:40He doesn't want to be your grass.
10:43He doesn't want to throw someone else under the bus.
10:45He doesn't want to say who it is.
10:46It's almost as if he wants to come across as the good guy.
10:49I don't have any family yardage.
10:52There's fuck all that can bother me.
10:54I'm not really bothered.
10:55He's got old people.
10:58I've got young kids now.
11:00That's what I'm going to say.
11:02I'm not going to spoil a kid's life.
11:04So the time is 1556.
11:13I'm on an interview there with Daniel.
11:19It was almost childlike.
11:21You could see that evidentially he'd been pushed into a corner.
11:26So there was that shift to,
11:29well, I know who it was,
11:31but I'm not going to tell you.
11:33We left that interview and known that we now had to interview Adam.
11:39Obviously the issue we have is,
11:41all the evidence we have is on Dan's phone.
11:44We didn't have much to link with Adam.
11:46We know that we haven't got any hard proof that Adam is involved.
12:04We were going to have to try and catch Adam out at this point.
12:07So the date today is the 3rd of November, 2023.
12:12Adam came in totally different to Dan.
12:15More of a calm kind of guy.
12:17We just hoped that he would give us something.
12:19These images have been taken.
12:23What do you think these photographs are of Adam?
12:25No comment.
12:27Do you recognise this photograph?
12:30No comment.
12:31Did you take this photograph?
12:32No comment.
12:33Do you recognise...
12:34It was very clear from the outset that he was just going to provide no comment.
12:38What can you tell me about this video apparently?
12:41No comment.
12:42What's happening?
12:43No comment.
12:44What's the audio in the video?
12:47No comment.
12:48Do you know who took the video?
12:50No comment.
12:51I asked him if his phone that we had seized on his arrest had capability for the internet.
13:00Does that phone have capability of WhatsApp?
13:03Do you know?
13:05I don't think so.
13:06You don't think so?
13:07OK.
13:08That was the only question in the interview that he replied to.
13:11We felt strongly that there obviously is another phone that we didn't have.
13:16This is your opportunity to tell us what has happened.
13:19Do you know anything?
13:20Are you prepared to tell the police?
13:23No comment.
13:24Are you fearful of anyone?
13:26No comment.
13:31So we came out of the interview not feeling any clearer.
13:35We haven't got any hard proof that Adam is involved in this crime.
13:41The evidence that we have wasn't going to be strong enough for charge at this time.
13:45We needed to find more evidence.
13:51Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were bailed for a second a time.
13:58Which was frustrating.
14:00Two men have since been released on police bail.
14:06To hear that they were released, it was just this horrible feeling.
14:10We didn't understand what the heck was going on.
14:13We were massively worried that they had the wrong guys again.
14:18I knew I was doing absolutely everything I could.
14:21But I'd started to receive emails questioning whether the police had kicked this into the long grass.
14:27As time went on, we just all started to lose confidence.
14:34Maybe this is how it's going to be.
14:36No one's going to be caught for it.
14:37No one's going to be held accountable.
14:39One of the most symbolically powerful trees in all England has been felt.
14:47The reaction has been immense and tells us something.
14:51Not just about this tree, but about our connection to trees more broadly.
14:54I mean, I just see this as part of a broader war on nature, I think.
14:59Nature is under attack and has been for a long time.
15:03LITERALLY AT THE END OF THE DAY
15:12LITERALLY AT THE END OF THE DAY
15:13WHEN IT'S ALL FUCKING SAID AND DONE
15:14EVERYTHING BACK IN BOILS DOWN, IT'S JUST A FUCKING TREE.
15:16We've got loads of trees, haven't we?
15:18Loads of trees.
15:19OK, it's just a tree.
15:20Why is this tree so special, though?
15:22It was going to die anyway.
15:25Right, good morning, everybody.
15:27Good morning, Mr. London.
15:30Why do you think Sycamore Gap's so important to us?
15:33This tree, which is only about two miles away from us.
15:37Is it because some people got married and engaged nearly?
15:40Excellent.
15:41It was a very special place for people,
15:44and it's on a school badge too.
15:49My mum was in hospital,
15:51so me and my dad went to Sycamore Gap
15:53and it just helped me calm down
15:55and it made me feel quite happy.
15:57Lovely.
16:00If you were to categorise this tree
16:03amongst all the other trees that get chopped down on a daily basis,
16:06then yes, it seems ridiculous to be upset.
16:09But if you're talking about the human connection
16:12and the impact it's had on people's lives,
16:14then yeah, that's why it's a story.
16:18The case is quite an emotive case.
16:20The public, the press, wanted to know what was going on.
16:23What do you know? What can you tell us about the tree?
16:25What's the evidence?
16:26But we needed to keep this really close to us.
16:32Our plan was to just try and build on what we had.
16:35We needed more on Dan's phone,
16:37but it needed to be digitally downloaded by our forensics unit,
16:40so this took a couple of weeks to come back.
16:45As soon as it had come back,
16:46I could actually see that there was messages between Dan and Adam.
16:55The day after the Sycamore Gap tree is being felled,
16:57Adam sends Dan a screenshot of a Facebook post
17:01that says it's an awful moment that Sycamore Gap is being felled.
17:05Dan quickly sends Adam a text message saying, here we go.
17:13So it feels like, you know,
17:14this is the moment that they've been waiting for
17:17because the next message that Dan sends Adam
17:19is not a bad angle on that stump, clearly professional.
17:23I took that to mean, you know, one of them's done this
17:26and it's almost like a joke between them.
17:29They're revelling in it.
17:30They then just send each other message after message,
17:36link after link about this tree.
17:39This is when I found the voice notes
17:41that they'd actually been sending each other.
17:44It's on fucking Sky News as we speak.
17:48It's on fucking Sky News as we speak.
17:51The tree at Sycamore Gap.
17:53When the world is waking up and finding that
17:55the Sycamore Gap tree is being felled,
17:57they then had started voice noting each other.
17:59It's on fucking Sky News as we speak.
18:03It will be on ITV News tonight.
18:06Well-loved and well-known.
18:08ITV News, BBC News, Sky News.
18:12Like, news, news, news.
18:14I think it's going to go wild.
18:17I couldn't believe that I actually had their voices
18:20actually discussing this.
18:22It's gone viral.
18:23It is worldwide.
18:24Dan and Adam are obviously watching the news.
18:25They've got no remorse about this.
18:26They almost had happiness in their voice.
18:27Then I began to wonder, is this why they've done it?
18:28Were they doing this because they wanted to be on the news
18:29and they wanted to be famous?
18:31A couple of hours later, there was even more voice notes.
18:38Weak!
18:39Fucking weak!
18:40How heavy?
18:41Shitties!
18:43Remember the public had commented that whoever had cut down
18:47Sycamore Gap must have been very weak to do this.
19:02Dan was almost now mocking this Facebook comment.
19:04Fucking weak!
19:05You guys!
19:06How heavy?
19:07Shitties!
19:08Is he referring to how heavy equipment is when they've carried this over?
19:09Weak!
19:10Weak!
19:11Weak!
19:12Weak!
19:13Weak!
19:14Weak!
19:15Weak!
19:16Weak!
19:17Weak!
19:18Weak!
19:19Weak!
19:20Weak!
19:21Weak!
19:22Weak!
19:23Weak!
19:24Weak!
19:25Weak!
19:26Weak!
19:28Weak!
19:29Weak!
19:30Weak!
19:31Weak!
19:32Weak!
19:33Weak!
19:34Weak!
19:35Weak!
19:36Weak!
19:37Weak!
19:38Weak!
19:39Weak!
19:40Weak!
19:41Weak!
19:42Weak!
19:43Weak!
19:44Weak!
19:45Weak!
19:46Weak!
19:47Weak!
19:48Weak!
19:49Weak!
19:50Weak!
19:51Weak!
19:52Weak!
19:53Weak!
19:54Weak!
19:55Weak!
19:56Weak!
19:57Weak!
19:58Weak!
19:59Weak!
20:00Weak!
20:01Weak!
20:02It's them, revelling in what they've done.
20:17I was satisfied that we had a very strong case.
20:21So the file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service.
20:28Whilst I was very confident that the evidence painted
20:31a picture of what they did that night,
20:33it was then up to the CPS to decide whether
20:37that was strong enough to charge them.
20:55I was aware that there were certain items
20:57that had been seized from Daniel Graham
20:59that bore no investigative significance.
21:03So I arranged to meet him
21:05to be able to hand these items back.
21:10When I was carrying some stuff
21:12to place in the back of his vehicle,
21:15he said he wanted to show me something.
21:19And he then produced a mobile phone
21:21and showed me a series of photographs
21:23that I always refer to as the owl photographs.
21:35The owl photographs were taken
21:37in the workshop where Adam Carruthers worked.
21:41And in the background, on the floor behind Adam Carruthers,
21:46were, I think from memory, there were about 11 saws.
21:54One of them was a very long bar saw.
22:00In his first interview, Adam had said
22:04he had nothing to do with chainsaws.
22:06And if you had any training in the chainsaw operating chainsaws,
22:10anything you want to ask?
22:11No, none of that.
22:12Like, if I'm honest, I'm not really keen on them to me,
22:14because they are nasty things, you know.
22:17Yet, this was his workshop,
22:19brimming with all manner of chainsaws.
22:22For somebody that quite vociferously said they weren't a grass.
22:31Daniel Graham was quite prepared at that point
22:33to guide the investigation towards his friend Adam Carruthers.
22:38So it was an interesting turn.
22:43These two friends, they're losing that element of trust.
22:46Six months after they were first arrested,
22:57I received the official correspondence back
23:00from the Crown Prosecution Service
23:02to say that they were charging Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers.
23:10I would like to say I was elated.
23:13I think the feeling was, to be more honest, relief.
23:15Because you've lived and breathed it for six months.
23:21Two men from Cumbria have been charged over the felling of...
23:2438-year-old Daniel Graham and 31-year-old Adam Carruthers
23:28have both also been charged.
23:29And it's incredible how quickly that went global.
23:38When given the option to enter, please,
23:40the man in the balaclava and sunglasses, Daniel Graham,
23:44said, not guilty.
23:48Why are they wearing balaclavas?
23:51Immediately, the fact that they did that evoked a bit of anger,
23:54thinking, wow, it probably is you guys then.
23:58Good to see you guys, then.
23:59Good to see you guys, sir.
24:00Good to see you guys, sir.
24:01Good to see you guys, sir.
24:16People want them locked away forever. I don't want that.
24:21At the end of the day, it's a tree.
24:25It makes us feel quite upset for them.
24:29I want to go and give them a cuddle and say,
24:31I'm not angry and it'll all be all right.
24:34You must be the only person in the summer
24:37I know, possibly I am.
24:40I do want to go and give them a cuddle, I do.
24:43And say, I don't know why you did it, but the tree will regrow
24:46and she'll forgive you.
24:49Hi.
24:51I was quite shocked about the malice of people
24:54and the mob mentality of wanting blood.
24:58I started thinking that maybe the anger
25:01was disproportionate to what had actually happened.
25:04PHONE RINGS
25:11How can I help?
25:14How are you doing?
25:15I've tried to phone Cumbria Police to report some information
25:19but they said I need to ring Northumbria Police.
25:22Can I just take your name, please?
25:24I'm just reporting it anonymously.
25:26PHONE RINGS
25:29During the period of time running up to the trial,
25:32I was made aware of a 101 call.
25:35What is it you're ringing about?
25:37The Sycamore Gap.
25:39Oh, right, OK.
25:40So you're ringing with intelligence?
25:42Yeah.
25:43The first few moments of the call,
25:46I recognised the voice to be that of Daniel Graham.
25:49PHONE RINGS
25:50Right, OK.
25:51What's the information you want to pass over?
25:53Erm, so, one of the lads that I've done it,
25:56erm, Adam Culvers,
25:58has got the saws back in his possession.
26:01PHONE RINGS
26:02Right.
26:03There's also a part of the tree,
26:06erm, that was with the saws as well.
26:08PHONE RINGS
26:09So he's kept part of the tree?
26:10I believe it could be the wedge of the tree, yeah.
26:15I obtained further telecommunications data
26:18that showed, at that point in time,
26:21Daniel Graham's mobile number was connected to the 101 system.
26:25PHONE RINGS
26:26All right.
26:27Thank you very much. Take care.
26:28Ta-ra. Bye-bye.
26:30PHONE RINGS
26:31And terminated at exactly the same point in time
26:33that the call was terminated to Northumbria Police.
26:38So this friendship,
26:40if it hadn't already become a void,
26:43this was becoming a chasm.
26:46PHONE RINGS
26:49Are we going to have a trial where it becomes cutthroat?
26:55PHONE RINGS
26:57Two men accused of felling the Sycamore Gap tree
27:01are due to go on trial later today.
27:04Daniel Graham and Adam Caruthers deny causing criminal damage to...
27:08In my house, the Sycamore Gap case is known as that bloody tree case.
27:13My name's Richard Wright, King's Counsel,
27:15and I was the lead prosecutor in the Sycamore Gap case.
27:21In the last 12 years, almost all of my practice has involved prosecuting or defending cases of murder,
27:27or very serious violent or organised crime.
27:31And so prosecuting a case of criminal damage to a tree was completely out of the ordinary.
27:42There was an army of journalists outside the court.
27:45I don't think I was ready for the extent of that.
27:48I was being photographed, walking in, and that's pretty unusual.
27:57In a case where there was this level of media interest,
28:00if you lose, everyone knows you've lost.
28:13Before the case came to trial, the two men had obviously fallen out.
28:17You could tell when we were in court that there was a real tension between them,
28:21and they absolutely detested each other.
28:23Dan Graham began by answering questions reasonably politely.
28:35He denied that he'd had anything at all to do with cutting down the tree.
28:42He took every opportunity he could to try and blame Adam Carruthers,
28:46so he revealed, for the first time ever,
28:48that Carruthers was obsessed with this tree,
28:51and that Carruthers had been out with a piece of string
28:54and measured the circumference of the tree,
28:56and that Carruthers kept this piece of string as a sort of trophy,
29:00and even going so far as to say that the next morning,
29:03Carruthers had rung him and admitted that he'd cut down the tree.
29:08He was asked about the phone call.
29:10It was Adam claiming he'd cut down the sycamore gap tree.
29:14I told him he was talking shit, I didn't believe it.
29:17I'm meant to say shit.
29:22Dan Graham was asked why he'd started to grass up Adam Carruthers to the police.
29:28It's my name all the time.
29:30My name before Adam's.
29:32And I started to have people phoning my business,
29:34giving me abuse about the tree.
29:35It was costing me money.
29:37I'm annoyed my business was suffering through his actions.
29:40Then I will fucking grass.
29:41And the more I pushed him, he resorted to becoming quite obstructive, belligerent.
29:52You're standing there calling me a liar.
29:55I've had enough of you calling me a liar.
29:57You're trying to wind us up.
29:59You're doing a good job.
30:06Carruthers was much less combative than Daniel Graham.
30:09He was quite quiet and softly spoken.
30:14There was an air of vulnerability about him almost.
30:18And so I decided I had to be careful not to make the jury feel sorry for him.
30:25Carruthers' alibi centered on the idea that he was at home with his partner and their young children at the time.
30:31But there were text messages between Carruthers and his partner that were particularly significant.
30:44On the day of the second arrest, I had seized the device belonging to the partner of Adam Carruthers.
30:51Analysis of that phone provided the conversation between the two of them.
30:59On the night the tree was felled, Adam's girlfriend asked him,
31:04Did you lock the gate?
31:05Carruthers' partner was talking about whether the gate was closed and that could only be interpreted as meaning he had left his home that night.
31:22After the cutting down, she'd sent him a video of his new baby feeding and he'd said, I've got a better video than that.
31:35I asked him why he'd said he'd got a better video than that and his answer was that this was a video he'd taken of his repairs to the roof in the outhouse.
31:50And he was trying to say that that was a good video better than his newborn child feeding was a video of a repair to a roof taken in the middle of a storm.
31:58It was a nonsense.
31:59But it seemed to me that it was the conversation the next day that was as clear an admission as you could have.
32:05I'd like to see Kevin launch an operation like we did last night.
32:09I'd like to see Kevin launch an operation like we did last night.
32:14We could all hear what was said. He was talking about the cutting down of the tree and he was saying like we did.
32:20He was trying to say that it wasn't we, but it was he. You could hear that he was saying we.
32:32Like we did last night. Like we did last night. We did last night.
32:36He was trying to ask the jury to accept that black was white. The jury at that point were almost laughing at him.
32:40Graham's car was placed in the area that night so that it was Graham's iPhone that was used to film.
32:49Things are coming out on TV at night time and you're like, oh my God, I can't believe they're still pleading not guilty.
32:55Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham.
32:57I've just been obsessed with it, to be honest. Absolutely obsessed with it.
33:00This wall was described by historians.
33:02Everybody wants to know if there are the perpetrators.
33:04This is for me still 50-50. I am not sure if it's going to be enough.
33:20No matter how strong the evidence, you can't assume that the jury see it the way you do.
33:25You've got to work on the basis that the jury still need convincing.
33:29We had a video taken on the telephone of Daniel Graham.
33:32I think it was very important that the jury saw that.
33:43The video that had been located on Daniel Graham's phone had been enhanced by the digital forensic unit.
33:51I will never forget seeing it because all of a sudden you could see the outline of the sycamore gap tree.
34:04It showed that there was one person wielding a saw and that there was a second person present holding the phone.
34:19When the sycamore tree falls, I still get goose pimples. It sends a shiver.
34:30In two minutes and forty seconds, that person writes out 130 years of history.
34:51The video was played on big screens in court.
35:09Everybody was stunned into complete silence, transfixed by what they were watching.
35:19We all knew that the video was of the tree. There was no getting away from that. You could see the silhouette of it.
35:37Both of them denied that they were in the video. But the metadata put the phone at the scene on that night.
35:47During the trial, Carruthers said to the jury, he thought it was all a bit silly really.
35:58I don't understand it. It's just a tree.
36:00And I think at that point you could almost feel the atmosphere in the courtroom change.
36:04I think the jury must have thought to themselves, exactly. And that's why you did it. Because you thought about it in that way, that it's just a tree.
36:16That was the greatest act of self-harm he could do to his own case.
36:20He didn't mean it to be a confession, but it was almost as if it was a confession.
36:25Jurors have been shown a video of the felling of the sycamore gap tree.
36:29The tree can be seen to topple backwards and it crashes to the ground.
36:33What? Like, really? They were that stupid. They videoed themselves.
36:42Not deleted. It was just unbelievably stupid. IQ nil.
36:49The noise is like an abattoir. It's like watching an animal get put down. It is quite dramatic and upsetting.
36:58Yeah.
37:03It's really sickening.
37:06I hope to God that this will be their downfall.
37:12Do you still think it was just a tree?
37:14Will we?
37:15The end of the trial, it had gone as well as a cross-examination can go. They both revealed themselves to be obviously lying.
37:26If everything goes as it should do and the jury system works properly, then the defendants will be convicted.
37:32In Newcastle, there's a saying that this is a Fenwick's window case.
37:41Fenwick's is a big store in the middle of the city. Think of the Harrods of the North East.
37:47Proposition is, if you lose this case, then you'll have to bear a certain part of your anatomy in Fenwick's window.
37:54My dear friends at the bar up and down England and Wales would never let me hear the end of it.
38:07When the jury walked out, there was a feeling that they would be back quite quickly.
38:13The first morning came and went, and then the second afternoon ticked by, and it got to sort of four o'clock and there was no word.
38:26I was beginning to despair.
38:32That evening, I was climbing the walls. I thought, what on earth can have gone wrong?
38:36What on earth can have gone wrong?
38:55Good morning. I'm Superintendent Kevin Waring from Northumbria Police.
38:59Today we have seen two men found guilty, not only of damaging the tree, but also Hadrian's wall.
39:10Those responsible have been brought to justice.
39:14The Sycamore Gap was an iconic landmark.
39:18It's quite surreal. It's just a massive relief of pressure.
39:22Full place in the hearts of men.
39:25I think I go home, I sit down and I enjoy a rather nice glass of red wine.
39:31And just reflect on everything that we've done.
39:34It's, um...
39:36It's been an emotional day.
39:39Come to the Chi with me
39:42Come to the Chi with me
39:46I actually had to go and start another murder case, so I was actually on my feet, opening to the jury.
39:50I got a note handed to me by my junior in Leeds, and the note just said,
39:55Newcastle, both guilty.
39:58The jury don't know that I'm waiting for a verdict in Sycamore Gap, so I had to just get on with it.
40:03It did take me a moment or two to find my place again, I have to say.
40:05Today, Justice finally caught up with the men who chopped down at the Sycamore Gap tree.
40:12Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers drove 30 miles through a storm in September 2023, and under the cover of...
40:19Come to the Chi with me, Malone.
40:24They've damaged the national landmark. I hope they get the book thrown at them, to be honest.
40:27What they did reflects who they are as people.
40:32Why? Just why? What on earth were you thinking?
40:36Over the moor and through the groan...
40:38I just thought they were a couple of brain-dead five-year-olds in grown men's bodies.
40:43Sing the days today...
40:51How should the duo, found guilty of cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree, be punished?
40:57Dean in Suffolk?
40:5835 years. That's a good number, I think.
41:0035 years. Okay.
41:02You're saying community service for 20 years, are you, Rodney?
41:05They should be putting back into what they've taken out.
41:08They should be meant to plant 100,000 trees each.
41:11They'll be that sick of trees that never touch another of the rest of their lives.
41:16Two men who cut down the Sycamore Gap tree are going to be sentenced today.
41:21What sort of punishment are they going to get?
41:23If it's too lenient, it will show the world, you know what?
41:26You can get away with this sort of stuff.
41:32The two men who caused outrage by felling the famous Sycamore Gap tree
41:36have each been sentenced to over four years in jail.
41:39The judge said that while Daniel Graham...
41:41I was kind of expecting more, but then...
41:43Four years? It's still a long time.
41:45I wouldn't have been surprised if they got five or seven or eight years,
41:48but it's good they've got something.
41:50Yeah, definitely better than nothing.
41:52I'm confident that a major factor in your offending that night
41:55was sheer bravado.
41:57I'm glad that they haven't been let off.
41:59I'm glad it hasn't just been a slap on the wrist.
42:02But it doesn't bring any sort of closure for me.
42:05The tree's still not there, is it?
42:10Has our judicial system gone absolutely stark raving mad?
42:13It's just a tree.
42:15It does not warrant taxpayers nine years in prison.
42:18It just doesn't.
42:19Literally, they're much fucking more fucking pressing things,
42:22more fucking things, pedophiles walking the fucking streets.
42:25It seemed to me that if 50% of people think it was too long
42:29and 50% think it was too short, it's about right.
42:34The main question is, why? Why have you done it?
42:37The truth is, after a two-week trial, we're still none the wiser.
42:40The only people who know why tonight are in prison.
42:51Throughout the trial, they both denied they were responsible.
42:55However, when speaking to their probation officers,
43:00they both admitted their guilt.
43:06So Graham said, all right, I was there,
43:09but I didn't know he was going to cut the tree down
43:11until the very second he stuck the chainsaw into it.
43:14I thought he was just joking.
43:16You know, very funny, carry a chainsaw for 20 minutes
43:18across a field in the middle of a storm.
43:20Adam Carruthers told his probation officer
43:21that he'd drunk at least a bottle of whisky
43:24and that everything that happened was a blur.
43:30I'm very much of the view that each of them might have pleaded guilty,
43:34but was worried that if they did, the other one might get away with it.
43:37They both wanted to see each other go down.
43:40But the actual motivation, who knows?
43:43I mean, one theory was that Carruthers had just had a child
43:47and this might have been about going to get a trophy,
43:48the wedge of the tree, to celebrate the birth of his child.
43:52But in a sense, if that was his motivation,
43:54it reveals to you just how stupid they both were.
43:57It really was the moronic mission.
44:02There are new signs of life at the Sycamore Gap tree stump,
44:06where the iconic landmark once stood next to...
44:08The National Trust says it hopes they will form new trees
44:12around the original stump.
44:14Right, we need to try and all keep together in your partners, please.
44:18We don't mind the rain, do we, guys?
44:19It was a little ship...
44:22..that sailed on the sea...
44:26..the name of the ship was a merry-goldern tree...
44:38..sailin' on the low and the low and the low and the low...
44:41In terms of Sycamore Gap as it stands, there's a new chapter, you know.
44:46The little saplings that are growing, it's beautiful to see.
44:52Hopefully the tree will regrow, but hope there is forgiveness.
44:57That's what I'm hoping for.
45:01The tree will be passed on from generation to generation.
45:05It's now a local legend.
45:11MUSIC PLAYS
45:29Just think, in decades to come, 20, 30 years, when you've got your own children,
45:34you might be able to come back here and the tree might be grown again,
45:38and you might be able to sit underneath it and share the story of Sycamore Gap with your own families.
45:44Farewell to you, you merry golden tree.
46:00MUSIC PLAYS
46:08Support information for the issues raised can be found online at channel4.com forward slash support.
46:15MUSIC CONTINUES
46:20MUSIC CONTINUES
46:25MUSIC CONTINUES
46:29MUSIC CONTINUES
46:31MUSIC CONTINUES
46:33MUSIC CONTINUES
46:35MUSIC CONTINUES
46:37MUSIC CONTINUES
46:39MUSIC CONTINUES
46:41MUSIC CONTINUES
46:43MUSIC CONTINUES
46:45MUSIC CONTINUES
46:47MUSIC CONTINUES
46:49MUSIC CONTINUES
46:51MUSIC CONTINUES
Be the first to comment