One of the men on trial for cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree denied “revelling” in the media coverage of the tree.
Daniel Graham, 39, was accused of being excited about the news coverage after sending his co-accused, Adam Carruthers, 32, a voice note about the story going “viral”.
“It’s not revelling, it’s a conversation,” Graham claimed in his defence.
Asked why he searched for news about the tree throughout that day, Graham said: “Like half the world did… Seeing who it was, what was going on.”
Carruthers told Newcastle Crown Court he was “amazed how something so small could create so much publicity” but denied having a fixation on the tree after Graham previously claimed Carruthers had wanted to cut down the “most famous tree in the world”.
The prosecution alleges that Carruthers and Graham drove from Carlisle to the Northumberland landmark in September 2023 during Storm Agnes.
Both men deny two counts of criminal damage to the sycamore and Hadrian’s Wall.
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Carruthers talked about “the operation we did last night” in one of the voice notes exchanged by the pair, but Graham said he did not know what his friend was referring to.
Graham said in one message that the story would be on ITV news that night, and he was asked whether he was talking about what he and Carruthers had done.
“No, I’m talking about what’s going to be on the news tonight. He talked about the operation, I talked about the news. It’s totally different,” Graham said.
Carruthers later claimed the message had been “interpreted wrong”. He added: “It should be ‘launch an operation like what he did last night’. I’m referring to the person who done the job.”
Carruthers also said he did not remember a video that is said to be the famous tree being cut down.
“Now I’ve seen the video, it’s just a black image, and even if I had received it, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. I would have thought it’s not meant for me or it’s a mistake,” he told the court.
He was asked about a message he sent to his partner on the night the 300-year-old tree beside Hadrian’s Wall was felled in September 2023 said he had a “better video” after she sent him footage of their baby being bottle fed.
Carruthers claimed he was referring to a video he took of their shed being damaged in the storm that night.
Graham previously told the court that he was not the one using his Range Rover or mobile phone on the night the tree was cut down, which were both traced to the tree’s location.
Carruthers denied taking Graham’s phone to record the sycamore being felled as he spoke from the witness box on Tuesday, as well as ever borrowing Graham’s phone, knowing its pin code or using it as a hotspot for his phone.
Carruthers said he had borrowed Graham’s Range Rover on one occasion, with his former friend’s permission, after he had worked on moving a lift for him.
Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, asked Graham about Carruthers allegedly using his Range Rover on the night the sycamore was felled: “He’s cut down the tree and he’s used your car to do it. Weren’t you annoyed?”
Graham replied: “Not annoyed about stuff being taken, annoyed about what it was used for.”
Carruthers said he became friends with Graham about three or four years ago, adding that they would see each other up to four times a week, as well as speaking on the phone every day.
“I would say we were good friends,” Carruthers told jurors and Graham previously said the pair were the “best of pals” at the time.
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But their friendship ended when Graham allegedly came to see Carruthers 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.”. Carruthers denied “grassing” on Graham.
When the cross-examination on Tuesday moved on to Graham’s claim that Carruthers and another man asked him to take the blame for cutting down the tree, Graham said: “You are trying to wind us up, you are doing a good job, it’s working.”
He said the plan was a “load of sh***” and said they did not discuss how it would work because “it’s not f****** happening”. He added: “I was not going to take the blame for something I didn’t do.”
The trial continues.
