The chainsaw two men allegedly used to cut down the famous Sycamore Gap tree and a wedge of the trunk prosecutors say they took as a trophy were never found despite extensive police searches, a court has heard.
Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, each deny two counts of criminal damage to the tree and to Hadrian’s Wall, overnight on September 28 2023.
Prosecutors at Newcastle Crown Court say they travelled to the Northumberland landmark in the pitch black during Storm Agnes and used a chainsaw to fell the sycamore, which then crashed on to the Roman wall.
On the third day of the trial on Thursday, junior prosecution counsel Rebecca Brown told jurors Graham was first arrested at his home at Millbeck Stables, Carlisle, on October 31 2023.
His home was searched and two chainsaws were seized from a work shed, as well as a mobile phone inside a jacket pocket hanging in the caravan.
The court heard Carruthers was first arrested on suspicion of criminal damage on October 31 2023 at the caravan where he was living at The Old Fuel Depot at Kirkbride Airfield, Wigton, Cumbria.
Ms Brown said the two men were arrested for a second time on November 3 2023, following further evidence.
The Old Fuel Depot site was searched by Northumbria Police on the same day and a chainsaw was found in a shipping container.
None of the chainsaws found in the searches are said to be the one used in felling the Sycamore Gap tree, jurors have heard,
Ms Brown said Mr Carruthers’ father’s house on Church Street, Wigton, Cumbria was also searched by police on November 3.
She told jurors: “The reason for the search was to look for outstanding property, namely a chainsaw and a wedge from the tree.”
Ms Brown said the house was “extremely cluttered with access to most rooms difficult because of this” and there was no sign of any chainsaws or a wedge from a tree.
She told the court the house was also searched for chainsaw parts, chainsaw packaging; felling equipment, mobile phones, receipts of any relevant purchases, banking details, silver spray paint, clothing stained in silver paint and boots. None of these were found.
Jurors were told that forensic video analyst Emiliano Polito was instructed to compare photos and videos on Graham’s phone showing a piece of wood and a large chainsaw in the boot of a vehicle – taken at 2am on September 28 2023 – with images taken by a scenes of crime officer of Graham’s Range Rover at his property.
Ms Brown said Mr Polito conducted a vehicle comparison and found that “there is no doubt that vehicle X (the vehicle in the images and videos) and the recovered vehicle (Graham’s Range Rover) are the same vehicle”.
The trial continues.
