Deliberations begin in UK trial of men accused of felling Sycamore Gap tree

LONDON (AP) — Jurors in the case of two men charged with cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree that once stood along the ancient Hadrian’s Wall in northern England did not reach a verdict Thursday after several hours of deliberations.

Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, have pleaded not guilty to two counts each of criminal damage. The former friends each testified that they were at their separate homes that night and not involved.

Justice Christina Lambert told jurors in Newcastle Crown Court to take as long as they need to reach unanimous verdicts in the trial that began April 28.

Jurors began deliberations just before noon and were sent home a little more than four hours later without reaching a verdict. They resume deliberations Friday.

The tree was not Britain’s biggest or oldest, but it was prized for its picturesque setting along the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire.

The tree was long known to locals but achieved international fame in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.” It sat symmetrically between two hills along the historic wall and was a draw for tourists, landscape photographers and those taking selfies for social media.

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Prosecutors said the tree’s value exceeded 620,000 pounds ($830,000) and damage to the wall, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was assessed at 1,100 pounds ($1,460).

Prosecutor Richard Wright told jurors in his closing argument that the men cut the tree down for “a bit of a laugh” in the dark of night during a blustery storm on Sept. 28, 2023, but had failed to realize the outrage they would spark in the “arboreal equivalent of mindless thuggery.”

“They woke up the morning after and soon realized — as the news media rolled in, as the outrage of the public became clear — it must have dawned on them that they couldn’t see anyone else smiling,” Wright said. “Far from being the big men they thought they were, everyone else thought that they were rather pathetic.”

The two men had once been best friends. But during the trial Graham blamed Carruthers and another man for cutting down the tree, saying they tried to frame him by taking his car to the scene of the crime and using his phone to shoot video of the tree being cut down.

Andrew Gurney, a lawyer for Carruthers, said Graham’s story didn’t add up and he was projecting his guilt on his former friend.

“Is that a plausible chain of events or is that the desperate story of a man caught out?” Gurney said.

Wright mocked the duo’s defense, saying common sense and a trail of evidence should lead jurors to convict them for their “moronic mission.”

Prosecutors showed grainy video from Graham’s phone of the tree being cut down — a video sent shortly afterward to Carruthers’ phone. Metadata showed it was taken at the tree’s location in Northumberland National Park. Data showed Graham’s Range Rover had traveled there.

Wright said he couldn’t say who cut the tree and who held the phone, but the two were the only people in the world who had the video on their devices.

Text and voice messages exchanged the following day between Carruthers and Graham captured their excitement as the story went viral.