Chainsaw used to cut down Sycamore Gap tree 'never found'

The chainsaw allegedly used to cut down the famous Sycamore Gap tree as well as remove a wedge of trunk said to have been taken as a trophy were never found, a court has heard.

Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, each deny two counts of criminal damage to the tree and to Hadrian's Wall overnight on 28 September 2023. Jurors at Newcastle Crown Court have been played mobile phone footage allegedly showing the moment the men used a chainsaw to fell the sycamore, which then crashed on to the Roman wall.

Prosecutors say photographs and two short videos taken on Graham's phone showed a piece of wood next to a chainsaw in the boot of his Range Rover after they travelled to the Northumberland landmark in the dark during Storm Agnes. But on the third day of the trial, the court heard neither the chainsaw nor the alleged trophy have been found, despite extensive police searches.

The jury has been told the defendants now appeared to blame each other and their once-close friendship has "unravelled". The court heard Graham told police in an interview he was being framed for the crime as part of a dispute with someone "stirring the pot" and insisted: "That Sycamore Gap's got nothing to do with me." "I have no reason on this planet to go and fell this f***ng tree, all right," he said, and when asked if it was a shock, he replied: "Aye, it's a shock but not a surprise." When the police asked him if he denied being responsible for the crime, he said: "1000%, I will tell you now, it was not me stood by the tree with the chainsaw." The court heard he also told police: "I have never been a grass and I'm not going to f***ng start now.

"I'm not going to start ruining people's families. "If I get the blame, I get the f****ng blame.

I ain't going to sit here and give someone else's name." Asked if the allegation that he was involved would ruin his life, he replied: "I don't have any family, so I don't give a f**k.