Extract from ABC News
The tree had stood at Sycamore Gap for more than 200 years. (AP: Owen Humphreys )
In short:
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were jailed for for four years and three months for the "senseless" felling the historic sycamore in September 2023.
Judge Christina Lambert told the men they had cut down the tree out of "sheer bravado", later bragging about the event.
What's next?
The charity which looks after the site said there were signs of life at the base of the tree last August.
Two UK men have been jailed for more than four years each for cutting down Britain's historic Sycamore Gap tree.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were jailed for for four years and three months for felling the sycamore in September 2023 — estimated to be almost 200 years old.
The tree stood at the centre of a dramatic dip in the landscape alongside the historic Hadrian's Wall in northern England.
The tree had also featured in the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and was a popular spot for photographers, hikers and even marriage proposals.
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were sentenced on Tuesday. (AP/Northumbria Police)
The pair were found guilty last month of travelling from their homes in the middle of the night in to deliberately cut down the sycamore with a chainsaw.
They filmed what prosecutors described as a "moronic mission" on Graham's mobile phone and later bragged about it, before the pair's friendship descended into acrimony as the widespread anger at their actions became clear.
Both had denied any involvement in the felling of the tree, which also damaged part of Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Graham and Carruthers did, however, accept responsibility when speaking to probation officers, their lawyers said.
Carruthers will have to carry the burden for his actions like a "form of personal penance," attorney Andrew Gurney said.
"It was no more than drunken stupidity," Mr Gurney said, "and something he would regret for the rest of his life."
Judge Christina Lambert told the men they had cut down the tree out of "sheer bravado" upon sentence on Tuesday, local time.
The National Trust, a heritage conservation charity which looks after the site, said last August there were signs of life at the base of the tree, giving hope it might live on.
National Trust general manager Andrew Poad told the court "this iconic tree can never be replaced".
""It belonged to the people," he said in a statement read out by prosecutors.
"It was a totemic symbol for many; a destination to visit whilst walking Hadrian's Wall, a place to make memories, take photos in all seasons; but it was also a place of sanctuary."
Last week, the Northumberland National Park said the largest part of the tree would go on display in an installation located not far from where it once stood.
Reuters/AP
No comments:
Post a Comment