The China Mail - Two men who chopped down iconic UK tree to be sentenced

A jury at Newcastle Crown Court in May found former friends Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers guilty of criminal damage for the 2023 felling of the tree at Sycamore Gap.

It had stood for nearly 200 years next to Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northern England. The tree was so striking it featured in the 1991 Hollywood film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves".

They were convicted on two counts of criminal damage: to the sycamore and to the Roman wall, which was damaged when the tree fell on it.

They will be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, and face a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail. The hearing is due to start at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).

Reacting to the guilty verdict, the National Trust conservation body said the "needless felling" of the tree had "shocked people around the country and overseas".

"It was felt particularly deeply here in the north east of England where the tree was an emblem of the region and the backdrop to many personal memories," said a spokesperson.

- 'Moronic mission' -

The pair drove to the site near Hexham in Graham's Range Rover and felled the tree on the night of September 27, 2023, slicing through the trunk with a chainsaw in "a matter of minutes", said prosecutor Richard Wright.

"Having completed their moronic mission, the pair got back into the Range Rover and travelled back towards Carlisle" where they lived, he added.

The pair were jointly charged with causing £622,191 ($832, 821) of criminal damage to the tree and £1,144 of damage to Hadrian's Wall, an ancient Roman fortification stretching from northwest to northeast England.

The sycamore was a symbol of northeast England and a key attraction photographed by millions of visitors over the years, winning the Woodland Trust's Tree of the Year in 2016.

Efforts are under way to see if it can be regrown from its stump or seeds.

The National Trust, which owns the wall and the tree, said it has grown 49 saplings from the sycamore's seeds, which will be planted this winter at sites across the UK.

An over six-foot (two-metre) piece of the felled tree now forms the centrepiece of an art installation on permanent display at a visitor centre near where it stood.

People can see and touch part of the trunk, and "can once again gather, sit, and reflect", according to the visitor centre.

W.Cheng--ThChM