Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

The Sycamore Gap Tree

183 replies

PassingStranger · 30/04/2025 18:19

2 men on trial for felling the tree.
Aren't they embarrassed, what on earth possessed them?
They weren't exactly young either.

Grown men
Bet their parents are proud not?
Grow up.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
TheOtherAgentJohnson · 02/05/2025 10:59

B1indEye · 02/05/2025 07:34

It appears to be so open and shut and their defence so non existent that I'm now kind of wondering if there is more to it 😁

Show quote history

I suppose their defence will amount to the evidence all being circumstantial, which is true, but it's still pretty cut and dried.

MrsSkylerWhite · 02/05/2025 11:02

GourmetLettuceMix · 30/04/2025 18:28

It is a bit pathetic, but also....it's just a tree. They shouldn't have done it, but there are more important things to be outraged about.

Quite possible to be outraged about many things at once.

Do you realise how important trees are to humanity?

They also damaged Hadrian’s Wall.

Just Bizarre. Why?

PatsFruitCake · 02/05/2025 11:15

GourmetLettuceMix · 30/04/2025 18:28

It is a bit pathetic, but also....it's just a tree. They shouldn't have done it, but there are more important things to be outraged about.

It was a landmark in the local area. Local businesses used it in their logos and the local school on their uniform. It generated visitors to support the local economy. People proposed marriage there and scattered their loved ones ashes around it. Every one of those people have had their memories impacted by the actions of the people who cut the tree down.

So yeah, it was just a tree, in the same way as Stonehenge is just a pile of stones. You're ignoring the cultural context.

Arghgerroffyabastard · 02/05/2025 11:19

TheOtherAgentJohnson · 02/05/2025 10:59

I suppose their defence will amount to the evidence all being circumstantial, which is true, but it's still pretty cut and dried.

Show quote history

Circumstantial? You mean the circumstance where one has a video of the other cutting the tree down?

TheOtherAgentJohnson · 02/05/2025 11:26

Arghgerroffyabastard · 02/05/2025 11:19

Circumstantial? You mean the circumstance where one has a video of the other cutting the tree down?

Show quote history

I think technically that still counts as circumstantial, but like I said, it's still cut and dried that it was them. I'm assuming the reason the prosecution has been emphasising that being present and filming the event is as good as doing it themselves is anticipating the defence being that the evidence doesn't prove they were the ones cutting the tree down.

B1indEye · 02/05/2025 12:57

Arghgerroffyabastard · 02/05/2025 11:19

Circumstantial? You mean the circumstance where one has a video of the other cutting the tree down?

Show quote history

One of their phones has a video of a person cutting down the tree, I've not seen today's reports, has it now been proved that the one took it and the other is that person?

Arghgerroffyabastard · 02/05/2025 16:05

Well, the phone that took the video belongs to one of the two, and it was his car onsite. He says somebody else used both that night, so sure, it’s circumstantial… but good lord, it’s quite a set of circumstances 😂

AriaMake · 02/05/2025 16:23

Reading the court report today, there is a small chance that one of the defendants wasn’t there and that his car and phone were used.

He is professing that AC and another person want him to accept the charge because he has MH issues and will be given a lenient sentence.

He seemed quite straightforward in his responses.

The case will hinge on whether they can prove that DG was in the car. The car and phone were there.

TheOtherAgentJohnson · 02/05/2025 20:08

Arghgerroffyabastard · 02/05/2025 16:05

Well, the phone that took the video belongs to one of the two, and it was his car onsite. He says somebody else used both that night, so sure, it’s circumstantial… but good lord, it’s quite a set of circumstances 😂

Edited

Well indeed, I’m not saying it’s a strong defence, it’s just the only card they have to play.

Wouldyouafamandeveit · 04/05/2025 21:19

PatsFruitCake · 02/05/2025 11:15

It was a landmark in the local area. Local businesses used it in their logos and the local school on their uniform. It generated visitors to support the local economy. People proposed marriage there and scattered their loved ones ashes around it. Every one of those people have had their memories impacted by the actions of the people who cut the tree down.

So yeah, it was just a tree, in the same way as Stonehenge is just a pile of stones. You're ignoring the cultural context.

Show quote history

Exactly re comparison to Stonehenge

Etoile12345 · 09/05/2025 10:58

Found guilty! Excellent news. The pair of idiots.

SirChenjins · 09/05/2025 11:36

Excellent news - the jury was absolutely right here. I really hope they go to jail, utter scumbags.

EstherGreenwood63 · 09/05/2025 12:32

Oxygen thieves.

MorningSunlight · 09/05/2025 13:26

BBC says they wont be sentenced until July - why so long?

AlviarinAesSedai · 09/05/2025 13:45

I know I’m a horrible person but, the older one looks about 60! Hope they go to prison and enjoy their 5 minutes of fame.

SirChenjins · 09/05/2025 14:10

MorningSunlight · 09/05/2025 13:26

BBC says they wont be sentenced until July - why so long?

6 weeks to get a mental health report on the older one. I bet if the police were asked they could provide an accurate summary in about an hour.

LookingAtMyBhunas · 09/05/2025 14:13

EveryKneeShallBow · 30/04/2025 18:36

It’s like a toddler acting out in a supermarket. It’s all eyes on them for their five minutes of fame and everyone talking about them. The only time in their pathetic lives they get to be the centre of attention. And no, I bet they don’t get a custodial sentence. I’d like them to have the pick up dog mess with their teeth, but it’ll just be a fine I expect.

The judge has said today that they may get a 'lengthy' custodial.
Obviously courts are bound by sentencing guidelines and technically this is 'just' a criminal damage, so doesn't usually come with hefty sentence, but I'm sure they have applied for a lot of aggravating factors.

Kellywiththelegs · 09/05/2025 17:41

Yes! and I hope the pair of them have to serve the maximum sentence possible. I’ve just watched the felling video posted upthread, gut wrenching and rage inducing at the same time.

Kellywiththelegs · 09/05/2025 17:42

Also I hope the sentences that are handed out will make the next brainless attention seeking moron think twice about doing something similar.

BeaLola · 09/05/2025 18:07

Hope they get a decent sentence - a mindless act - if they don't go to prison (due to space) how about several years of actual real community service like scrubbing away graffiti, cleaning public toilets etc etc

AriaMake · 09/05/2025 18:47

SirChenjins · 09/05/2025 14:10

6 weeks to get a mental health report on the older one. I bet if the police were asked they could provide an accurate summary in about an hour.

Show quote history

I thought it read that he is already in police custody and has been all through.

The other is applying for bail until sentencing.

SirChenjins · 09/05/2025 19:01

AriaMake · 09/05/2025 18:47

I thought it read that he is already in police custody and has been all through.

The other is applying for bail until sentencing.

Show quote history

I thought I read they were both in prison on remand, but the MH report will inform sentencing - I’ve maybe got that wrong

AriaMake · 09/05/2025 21:02

SirChenjins · 09/05/2025 19:01

I thought I read they were both in prison on remand, but the MH report will inform sentencing - I’ve maybe got that wrong

Edited
Show quote history

This could be read either way I suppose.
11.23
Chris Knox, representing Daniel Graham, said he has “been in custody for his own protection after an episode in December”.
Mrs Justice Lambert will consider an application on bail for Adam Carruthers.

Not sure if that means AC has been inside and might be bailed or is remanded from now if bail is not agreed.

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/25150450.recap-carlisle-pair-guilty-felling-sycamore-gap-tree/

RECAP: Sycamore Gap Trial: Former friends found guilty of chopping down tree

Today Newcastle Crown Court groundworker Graham, 39, and mechanic Carruthers, 32, were each found guilty of two counts of criminal damage No visible…

https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/25150450.recap-carlisle-pair-guilty-felling-sycamore-gap-tree/

mouthpipette · 09/05/2025 21:24

AlmostSummer25 · 30/04/2025 19:58

how on earth can you put monetary value on a tree???

Show quote history

Not only that, but to be so precise in your calculations that you can quote them to 1 part in 622,191 is amazing.

I wish that everything I did in my life had that degree of error.

A flashy looking number isn't always accurate.

We should ask whoever carried out those calculations, whether they rounded up or down the pennies to the nearest pound.