The first police officer to arrive at the scene of the Sycamore Gap felling found people ‘visibly upset’ at the scene, a court heard today.
PC Peter Borini of Northumbria Police said there were already many people at the site when he got there at about 11:30am on 28 September 2023. In a statement read to Newcastle crown court, he said he knew the area well and was “well aware of the importance of the tree” to the local community and visitors.
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, both deny criminal damage to the tree to the value of £622,191.
Graham of Millbeck, Grinsdale, near Carlisle, and Carruthers, of Church St, Wigton, both Cumbria, also deny criminal damage of £1,144 of damage to Hadrian’s Wall, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Both belong to the National Trust.
PC Borini said members of the public were taking pictures and park rangers were “visibly shocked and upset”. He outlined how the tree was situated in a hollow in the land and had fallen northbound across the wall.
There was silver spray paint on the base before a smooth cut was made with a long-bladed chainsaw, he added.
He took samples of the tree bark and painted areas. PC Borini said he scoured the area of the tree for the “chock”, but it could not be found.
He said it must have been cut out of the trunk to dictate the way the tree would have fallen. He said it could have been a “sizable” part of the trunk. The incident had been reported at 09:39 am that day through multiple posts on social media.
The jury at Newcastle crown court was shown the footage filmed from PC Borini’s body-worn camera. In it he can be heard asking people to step back and calls in for more officers to arrive.
Other footage played to the court showed the famous 100-year-old Sycamore Gap tree being cut down in a ‘matter of minutes’.
The ‘moronic mission’ was captured on Graham’s mobile phone in a clip lasting two minutes and 41 seconds, which ends with a ‘thud’ as the tree hits the ground, Newcastle crown court heard .
The trial, expected to last 10 days, continues.
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