Overview

• The Newcastle Crown Court sentenced Daniel Graham (39) and Adam Carruthers (32) to four years and three months in prison on July 15 for the chainsaw felling of the century-old Sycamore Gap tree.
• A jury had found the pair guilty in May of intentionally destroying the iconic landmark, which appeared in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
• The tree’s collapse in September 2023 damaged a stretch of the nearby UNESCO-listed Hadrian’s Wall, prompting over €700,000 in estimated repairs.
• One defendant described the act as a “drunken folly” while both men blamed each other despite evidence of premeditation and video footage of the incident.
• The National Trust has cultivated 49 saplings from the tree’s seeds for planting this winter and unveiled an art installation featuring a segment of the original trunk.