Barely half-an-hour into their deliberations this morning, the jury in the Sycamore Gap trial returned unanimous guilty verdicts.
[Skip straight to the bottom of the article if you want my predictions on sentencing]
Daniel Graham, 39, of Milbeck Stables, Carlisle and Adam Carruthers, 32, of Church Street, Wigton were each convicted of two offences of criminal damage - the first in relation to the felling of the iconic Sycamore Gap tree; the second in relation to Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, upon which the tree fell.
As the pair have now been convicted, I can be a bit more forthright in my revelations and opinions. For a start, readers might be aware that the trial was actually listed for Tuesday, 3rd December 2024, but was postponed at the last minute due to Graham being hospitalised.
An air ambulance was called to Graham's property on Sunday, 1st December 2024 after he sustained what were described as critical injuries. Graham was scraped up off the floor and whisked away to Cumberland Infirmary, where it took doctors several days to put him back together.
Rumour at the time was that guilt-ridden Graham had tried to top himself. However, it now transpires, given that he's been on remand since then for his own protection, that he probably got a good shoeing from disgruntled locals offended by his act of arboreal thuggery.
During the eight day trial, presided over by Geordie judge Mrs Justice Lambert, Graham repeatedly pointed the finger of blame at his co-accused, Carruthers.
It was Carruthers that was obsessed with the 200-year-old tree; Carruthers who had measured the tree's girth with a piece of string; Carruthers who took Graham's Range Rover (and phone) to commit the act on the night of 27th/28th September 2023.
Graham was quite adamant that it was nothing to do with him.
Carruthers denied any involvement, but unlike Graham he didn't point the finger back at his co-accused. Instead he said that he wasn't there and didn't know who had been.
Today's verdict confirms what everyone has been thinking since day one - that both Graham and Carruthers were in it up to their necks all along.
Graham, who I do not doubt was the "brains" of the operation, has lied his way through the entire police investigation and trial. Carruthers, I would suggest, is an impressionable type who was swept along by Graham's bravado. He was a convenient scapegoat when the heat got a bit too much for Graham.
We can now piece together the events of the night of 27th/28th September 2023.
Local walker Alice Whysall was walking along Hadrian's Wall path during the early evening. At 5.20 pm she stopped briefly at Sycamore Gap and took what would be the final ever photograph of the standing tree.
Under the cover of darkness Graham and Carruthers took the 25 mile journey from Carlisle to Steel Rigg car park, a short walk from Sycamore Gap.
Mobile phone records suggest the pair didn't meet up until around 10.30 pm. They travelled together in Graham's Range Rover, which was pinged by an ANPR camera on the A69 at Brampton at 11.37 pm.
A few minutes later Graham's mobile phone, which had connected to a number of masts along the route, abruptly disconnected from the network. According to the prosecution, this happened when Graham turned his phone off to avoid it being tracked in the vicinity of the crime.
At 11:55 pm a CCTV camera at the Twice Brewed Inn recorded car headlights making the left-hand turn towards Steel Rigg car park. The car park is less than one kilometer from the junction where the car was seen turning.
Steel Rigg car park is about a twenty minute walk away from Sycamore Gap.
At 12.32 am a video of the tree being felled was recorded on Graham's phone. There could be no dispute about what the video showed, as data embedded in the video confirmed it was taken at the tree's location. The video was shot in the dead of night, but the police were able to enhance it enough to show the outline of a figure beside the tree.
At 1.18 am Graham's Range Rover was pinged on the same ANPR camera at Brampton, this time making the journey back towards Carlisle.
At 1.29 am Carruthers' partner sent him a video of their newly born baby being fed. Carruthers replied that he "had a better video". At around the same time the video of the tree being felled was sent from Graham's phone to Carruthers' phone.
At 2 am photographs were taken showing a chainsaw and wedge of wood, apparently retained as a souvenir, in the back of Graham's Range Rover. These were never recovered.
At 9.46 am Northumbria Police received the first report that the tree had been felled.
As the news broke the pair shared further messages about it throughout the day.
Their reasons for destroying the tree remain a mystery.
The pair have been remanded in custody until their sentencing on Tuesday, 15th July 2025.
The maximum sentence for criminal damage is 10 years' custody. However, despite this crime causing widespread revulsion it is unlikely the pair will receive a sentence anywhere near that. That's because judges usually sentence in accordance with the guidelines. They are guidelines and not tramlines. In theory Mrs Justice Lambert could impose any sentence up to the maximum allowed in law; in practice she will keep to the guidelines unless there are compelling reasons not to.
Looking at the relevant sentencing guideline, there is no doubt at all that this is a category A1 offence. It has involved a considerable degree of planning and there was an intention to cause very serious - indeed priceless - damage to property. For that reason it is an offence of greater culpability. In terms of harm, it is an offence that has caused serious distress and consequential economic and social damage.
A category A1 offence would have a starting point of 18 months' custody and a category range of 6 months' to 4 years' custody.
The judge will then take into account any aggravating and mitigating factors. Given the category range, even if the judge thinks there are many, many aggravating factors it is extremely unlikely Graham will get anything more than 4 years' custody. Carruthers, who we know has mental health issues, is likely to get considerably less than that.
I should also highlight that as there are two offence committed on the same occasion, the judge will sentence them concurrently (e.g. so that sentences run at the same time as each other). That being the case if they get 4 years' for the tree and 1 year for the wall (or whatever), the overall sentence would still be one of 4 years. Remember too that they would only serve half of that in custody, with the remainder being on licence in the community.
Of course whatever their sentence, neither of them will again be able to enjoy a quiet pint in Northumberland or Tyneside for the rest of their lives.
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