Grainy video in UK trial shows Sycamore Gap tree's last stand

LONDON — It's a stark and grainy video on a dark and stormy night. The shocking footage of the famous Sycamore Gap tree's last stand begins with the rumble of the wind, which is then overtaken by the sound of a chainsaw snapping to attention.

The black and white video of the majestic tree's final two minutes and 41 seconds was introduced into evidence in Newcastle Crown Court on Wednesday during the trial of two men charged with criminal damage for cutting the tree down and toppling it onto the ancient Hadrian's Wall.

It offered a rare glimpse of a crime allegedly caught in action by an accomplice as the culprit cut into the beloved tree's trunk on Sept. 28, 2023.

An excerpt of the final 24 seconds of the cell phone video released by the Crown Prosecution Service showed a solitary figure silhouetted beneath the towering canopy. The shaky footage shows the person in a struggle with the old tree, leaning into the task as the saw whines and the wind crackles.

Then with a single snap, the chainsaw comes to a halt and the person steps back as the tree begins its fall. The sycamore that had stood for about 150 years takes little more than five seconds to crash to earth.

The video was found on a phone in one of Daniel Graham's jacket pockets, according to testimony by Amy Sutherland, an intelligence analyst with the Northumbria police. Metadata put the location of the footage at Sycamore Gap.

Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, have pleaded not guilty to two counts each of criminal damage. Prosecutors said that the value of the tree exceeded 620,000 pounds (around $830,000) and damage to the wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was assessed at 1,100 pounds (nearly $1,500).

Graham, who had a small construction business, has denied being involved, saying his phone and vehicle were used without his knowledge, prosecutors Richard Wright said Tuesday during opening statements.

Graham implicated another man and Carruthers, who told police he worked as a mechanic and maintained properties, Wright said. But Carruthers denies having anything to do with the vandalism and said he wasn't at the scene of the crime.

Wright said that the defendants had embarked on a ''moronic mission'' in an ''act of deliberate and mindless criminal damage.'' He said the duo left a trail of evidence and boasted of their feat the following day as news of the tree's demise traveled around the globe.

Prosecutors said they can't say which man worked the saw and who filmed the act, but that each was equally culpable.

Both men owned chainsaws and the two sometimes worked together, Wright said. A video found on Graham's phone showed them cutting down a large tree about six weeks before the Sycamore Gap incident.

The discovery of the fallen tree quickly made the news the day after it was cut down and reverberated across the U.K and caused a national uproar.

''The place is much loved by many thousands of people," Tony Wilmott, a senior archaeologist with Historic England, said in written testimony presented to the court.

The tree was not Britain's biggest or oldest, but its majestic canopy perfectly set in a gap along a stretch of the ancient wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire had attracted generations of followers.

The tree became famous after being featured in Kevin Costner's 1991 film ''Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves,'' and was a big draw for tourists, landscape photographers and people snapping selfies for social media.

''Its unmistakable profile has been repeated in many media and because of this it has become totemic," Wilmott said. ''It has become a place of marriage proposals, family visits and even the location of ashes to be spread."