A man was accused of cutting down a nycamore gap tree on Hadrian's wall, telling police he was "sewn" and had no skills in the first place.

A Newcastle Crown Court jury heard a police interview with Daniel Graham, 39, who also said he had no idea that the tree he had collapsed a month ago.

Graham and Adam Carruthers, 32, have denied allegations of crimes damaging the famous tree and the Roman wall it stood.

Prosecutors accused the couple of heading from Carlisle to Northumberland to cut down trees during Storm Agnes through a "ridiculous mission." They allegedly drove on the night of September 27, 2023 at the Black Ranger in Graham.

They were accused of filming trees cutting on iPhones with chainsaws in the early morning of September 28.

Prosecutors claimed that the two men used the trophy as trophy and later "intoxicated" the losses of trees caused both domestically and internationally in the headlines.

Graham gave the first interview to the police on October 31 on suspicion of criminal damage.

On the third day of the trial, Di Calum Meikle of the Northumbria Police Department and a prosecutor Rebecca Brown read the transcript of the interview in which Graham denied that it was related to the tree cut.

He told police that when asked whom he thought he was "fixed" and mentioned "pretend" and "Paiki".

Foundation worker Graham said he was "sewn" and he knew who was blaming him. "It's a relationship with me, I don't know who did it, but I know who pushed my name toward it. I know who made the charges...I know who did it to me."

He said he was being framed for crime, part of the controversy with the “smelting pot” people. Graham said he allowed others to use his Range Rover.

When asked if any chainsaws he owned could be related to smoky cuts, Graham told police: "They aren't big enough." He said he didn't have the skill to fall down a tree of this big size.

When asked how he would cut down trees in the cracks of the sycamore tree, he replied: “I never had a big fall, I never had training.”

Graham told police he did not remember sending a message to Caruserth that the morning after the tree was cut down when the story was picked up in the media, “we’re leaving.”

When asked who cut down the tree, he answered "no comments" if there was a reason.

An interview with Carruthers was also read out to the jury. He said he didn't remember what he was doing the night he cut down, but he was at home watching the new baby he and his partner had recently.

Carruthers told police he never cut down a tree and considered the chainsaw "an annoying thing", adding that he would rather "stick with the spire."

"If someone said 'there was a tree, there was a saw, cut it out', I would go, but I've never done it before."

The court heard police had never taken back the wedge from the tree, saying the wedge was considered a trophy or used to overturn a sterile chainsaw.

Graham of Carlisle and Carruthers of Wigton were charged with criminal damage worth £622,191. They are also charged with causing £1,144 losses to the Hadrian wall of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walls and trees belong to the state trust.

The two denied all charges against them. The experiment continues.