Second man who chopped down Sycamore Gap tree released from prison

The second of two men who chopped down the Sycamore Gap tree has been released from prison.

Daniel Graham, 41, was sentenced to four years and three months for causing criminal damage to the famous tree beside Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland, when he was jailed in July last year alongside Adam Carruthers.

Carruthers was released in April and now Graham has also been freed on licence after serving 16 months plus the time he served on remand, as first reported in The Mirror.

Mrs Justice Lambert told the pair they would serve 40% of the sentence behind bars, with the remainder being served on licence in the community.

Ministry of Justice spokesman said in a statement on Monday: “The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree was a disgraceful crime.

“Offenders released on licence are subject to strict conditions and can be returned to prison immediately if they breach them.”

Former friends Graham and Carruthers were convicted of criminal damage to the much-loved tree, which had stood for more than 100 years in a fold in the Northumberland landscape.

They were also convicted of criminal damage to Hadrian’s Wall, caused when the sycamore fell on the ancient monument in September 2023.

During their trial, Newcastle Crown Court heard the two engaged in a “moronic mission” to cut down the landmark, travelling for more than 40 minutes from their homes in Cumbria, then carrying their equipment across pitch-black moorland during a storm in September 2023.

They took a wedge from the tree as a trophy that has never been recovered, and revelled in the media coverage as news of the vandalism caused national and international headlines.

Mrs Justice Lambert was sure that Carruthers cut the tree down while Graham drove him there and filmed it on his phone. Its destruction took less than three minutes.

The Sycamore Gap tree had stood for over a century in a dip next to Hadrian’s Wall in the Northumberland National Park, becoming a sacred place in the region for marriage proposals, scattering of ashes and birthdays.

The tree was a symbol of Northumberland and featured in the Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.