the “stupid mission” of two men before the courts

Two men, accused of having shot down a splendid very famous sycamore maple in northern England, have been tried since Tuesday April 29 in Newcastle, almost two years after a “Still mission”according to the prosecutor, who had caused great emotion in the country.

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, are accused of having, in September 2023, led in the middle of the night then market twenty minutes to reach the site of this majestic maple of more than two centuries, and to have saw her with the chainsaw while filming, before taking a piece of the trunk as a trophy. They deny the facts alleged against them and refer responsibility.

On Wednesday, the accusation released a video of 2 minutes and 41 seconds, found in the phone of Daniel Graham, who, according to her, immortalizes the moment when the tree was shot. The day before, prosecutor Richard Wright had explained that this video had been sent from the phone of Daniel Graham to that of Adam Carruthers, who himself transferred him to his partner.

The scene is immersed in darkness, but the video allows you to hear “The recognizable noise of a chainsaw, then a falling tree”said the prosecutor. The metadata of the video also show that it was turned near the “Sycamore Gap Tree”, as he was nicknamed, said a police analyst in court. The brightness of the video, “Extremely dark”was retouched, which makes it possible to distinguish the silhouette from a trained tree, then on the ground.

A photo also shows a piece of wood next to a chainsaw in the chest of the Graham Range Rover, spotted in the parking lot near the site by surveillance cameras. Daniel Graham says his car and phone were used without his knowledge, and Adam Carruthers says he was not present during slaughter.

The damage caused to this tree that appeared in many TV films and series, of which Robin of woods. Thieves’ princefrom Kevin Costner in 1991, are estimated at more than 622,000 pounds (more than 724,000 euros).

At the opening of the hearing, the prosecutor, Richard Wright, denounced an act of “Insane vandalism”. He also accused the two men of having “Déléctée” of the media coverage that followed, by sending messages to congratulate oneself from a story that has become “Viral”as the tree, isolated between two hills in a spectacular landscape of Northumbria, was loved by the general public.

At the end of September 2023, walkers had discovered the maple of cut, fallen against the Hadrian wall, a Roman site classified by UNESCO. Extremely famous, a place of marriage and family memories, the subject of millions of photos, he was elected “tree of the year” in 2016. His loss aroused the sadness and anger of the general public.

“It only took a few minutes to irreparably damage this tree” Centennial, said Richard Wright. “The technique they used testifies to their expertise and a determined and deliberate approach to slaughter”he denounced, adding that the two men knew that the tree would damage Hadrian’s wall by falling.

At the time, the two men were “Friends who frequented themselves regularly”and sent, according to the accusation, many messages and articles dealing with the slaughter of the maple. The next day, Daniel Graham thus sent a voice message to Adam Carruthers to tell him that “It has become viral, global”. Graham says that his car and his phone were used without his knowledge, and Carruthers claims that he was not present during the slaughter.

A month after being found, the tree was cut and removed by the authorities. Since then, the National Trust, the organization managing many places of the British heritage, whose place where the maple was, announced that new shoots had appeared on the strain of the tree. The National Trust has also recovered seeds and obtained 49 young plants, objects of all care, “Trees of hope” which will eventually be given to individuals and organizations throughout the United Kingdom, to be planted in particular in hospitals, gardens and schools.