Jury shows video of "cut downed nicamore gap tree" | UK news

The jury footage shows what the prosecutor said is that when the injured person was knocked down, he was shaking and waving a loud chainsaw, the gap tree of the helpless tree fell to the ground.

The court heard the video was taken on Daniel Graham's Apple iPhone 13, one of two men accused of illegally cutting down trees on Hadrian's walls, a witness described it as a "totem."

The video lasts for 2 minutes and 40 seconds. It shows a silhouette character with a chainsaw cut into a tree. A loud chainsaw noise can be heard, as well as the sound and sight of trees pouring on the ground.

Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, denied cutting the tree, which has been tilting against the wall since the late 19th century. They also deny that crimes destroyed Hadrian's wall.

Amy Sutherland, an intelligence analyst with the Northumbria Police Department, was asked about the evidence she had compiled to create an event schedule on Wednesday.

Sutherland told the court that this was in a download on Graham's phone, where she was able to get coordinates from where the metadata was taken. These coordinates are used for sterile gaps, she said.

Court sketch by Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers. Photo: Elizabeth Cook/PA Media

The jury showed two sets of videos, which were said to have been filmed in the early morning of September 28, 2023. The first one is almost completely black original. Police improved the second to change the brightness and contrast.

Jurors at Crown Court in Newcastle also showed CCTV footage of a car saying it was Graham's black Range Rover, driven to the parking lot near the sycamore tree. Also shown are footage of them being expelled from the parking lot.

Earlier, the court read a written statement from Ancient Monument Inspector Lee McFarlane, who said some of the stones on Hadrian's walls were damaged by falling trees.

Fortunately, the tree is still in the whole leaf, she said, because the tree's crown seems to be a kind of "cushion". The damage can be "disastrous", she added.

A statement from Tony Wilmott, a senior archaeologist in England, said the barrier name was created in the 1980s and, for decades, it has become one of the most admired features of Northumberland.

“Its clear features have been repeated in many media and therefore has become a graphic,” he said.

"It has become a place where marriage advice, family visits and even ashes are. This place is loved by thousands of people."

Also read is evidence from Alice Whysall Price, a Walker who took a photo of the tree at 5.20 pm on September 27, the last one to be taken while a tree is still standing.

Wright said Carruthers and Graham started a "temporary mission" to cut down a tree in minutes that had lasted for more than 100 years.

He said the two men seemed to be intoxicated by the news and soon began once they knew the tree had been cut down. The news talks about it being "wild" and "virus".

"They love it, they revel in it. It's the reaction people do. They still think it's funny, smart or big," Wright told the jurors.

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.

Graham and Carruthers denied all charges against them.

The experiment continues.