Sycamore Gap Tree | File Image
Two British men, Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers, are to spend more than four years in prison for cutting down one of the most iconic trees in England, the Sycamore Gap Tree.
The pair were found guilty in May of what a judge called a “deliberate and mindless” act of felling the tree as an apparent joke.
Justice Christina Lambert on Tuesday ruled that both men would spend four years and three months in prison during a hearing at the Newcastle Crown Court.
The CBS reports that the tree stood for nearly 200 years in a picturesque valley in northern England, right next to the remnants of Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The stone wall was constructed by Britain’s Roman occupiers almost 2,000 years ago as a defensive structure, and the portion of the wall where the tree stood featured in a scene of the 1991 Hollywood blockbuster “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” with Kevin Costner, bringing the bucolic spot and the grand tree some degree of international fame.
A jury at the same court had convicted the former friends on two counts each of criminal damage for their 2023 nighttime felling of the tree, for damaging both the sycamore maple tree and the Roman wall.
They had faced a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.
Also read: Man to spend 12 years in prison for sexual assault
The Sycamore Gap tree at Hadrian’s Wall was chopped down overnight on September 28, 2023.
Reacting to the guilty verdict in May, the National Trust conservation organization said the “needless felling” of the tree had “shocked people around the country and overseas.”
“It was felt particularly deeply here in the northeast of England where the tree was an emblem of the region and the backdrop to many personal memories,” said a spokesperson.
……………
valoa2000@yahoo.com
