Night-time video shows the moment two friends allegedly chop down iconic Sycamore Gap tree with a chainsaw

30 April 2025, 13:45 | Updated: 30 April 2025, 13:56

Footage shows moment Sycamore Gap tree is felled

Video showing the moment the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree was felled by a man with a chainsaw has been played to a jury.

Daniel Graham, 39, of Milbeck Stables, Carlisle, and Adam Carruthers, 32, of Church Street, Wigton, Cumbria, are on trial at Newcastle Crown Court charged with two counts each of criminal damage - one to the tree and one to Hadrian's Wall, which was damaged when the tree fell on it.

On the second day of the trial on Wednesday, jurors were shown a two-minute and 41-second video, taken from Graham's iPhone, of what prosecutors say is the hundred-year-old sycamore being chopped down.

Police analyst Amy Sutherland said the video was in the download section of Graham's phone, which was taken from his jacket pocket.

She said it was "in darkness" but that "sounds of a chainsaw" could be heard.

Ms Sutherland told the court she had been able to get the co-ordinates of where it was filmed from the metadata, and that the co-ordinates were for Sycamore Gap.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, told jurors earlier in the trial that the video had been enhanced by a Northumbria Police expert but was still "extremely dark", although what appears to be the outline of a tree can be seen, initially upright, before falling to the ground by the end of the clip.

What prosecutors say is the "unmistakable sound of a chainsaw" can be heard.

The video was shown to jurors twice - once showing the dark, raw footage, and a second time after it had been enhanced by a police specialist.

In the enhanced black and white version, with audio of wind blowing and a chainsaw buzzing, a figure can been seen working at the trunk of the tree, before it finally crashes to the ground.

Richard Wright KC, prosecuting, said the original video was enhanced by changing the contrast, putting a border around the frame and brightening the film "so it could be seen more clearly".

Opening the case to jurors on Tuesday, Mr Wright described how the video "moves around and zooms in and out as the recording continues".

About half way through the video, the chainsaw quiets, Mr Wright said, and someone removes a wedge from the tree, before the machine starts up again and the sycamore falls.

He told jurors: "It will be a matter for you what you think this video shows.

"The prosecution suggest that the video was taken by someone holding the phone in their hand."

Jurors heard the video was filmed on Daniel Graham's phone in "real time" at 12.32am on September 28.