Sycamore Gap defendant made anonymous call blaming co-accused, jury hears

One of the two former friends on trial for cutting down the tree at Sycamore Gap anonymously rang the police to blame his co-accused, jurors have heard.

The prosecution say Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, and mechanic Adam Carruthers, 32, drove around for 40 minutes from the Carlisle area, during Storm Agnes, to cut down the much loved tree beside Hadrian’s Wall in September 2023.

The pair each deny two counts of criminal damage to the sycamore and to the Roman Wall.

On the fourth day of the trial at Newcastle Crown Court, jurors were told that an anonymous call was made to the emergency services 101 number on August 23 last year.

The male caller, identified by Detective Inspector Calum Meikle as Graham, named Carruthers as being responsible for the crime.

The officer, who is in charge of the police inquiry, told the court he was “absolutely” certain that the caller was Graham, having checked the defendant’s phone records and seeing that the time of the anonymous call matched.

Andrew Gurney, for Carruthers, played the 10 minute call to the court.

The male caller, speaking to a call-handler, said: “I tried to phone Cumbria Police to report some information, they said I need to speak to Northumbria Police.”

The caller then declined to give his name or number and when asked what the call was about replied: “Sycamore Gap.”

When asked what the information was, he replied: “One of the lads that done it, Adam Carruthers, has got the saws back in his possession.

“They were being held by another male by the name of Lindsay Dalgleish. They were being held in Annan.”

The caller said two of the saws were now in Wigton, at the home of Carruthers’ mother.

He added that Mr Dalgleish had another eight saws “and they have the same oil in them” as the one used to cut down the tree.

He added that “a part of a tree” was being kept with the saws.

He said they had possibly been moved to a business called Cumbria Turf but that “two days ago they were in Wigton”.

The call handler responded: “Oh dear, awful. Just awful.”

She asked the caller if they could take his mobile number and give him a password to use if police wanted to contact him again, but he said: “I don’t want no repercussions. If I get any more information I’ll do the same again.”

He went on to say that Carruthers had a number of firearms on the Kirkbride yard where he lived in a caravan.

Mr Meikle, the officer in charge of the case, told the court that no firearms were found when that property was searched.

Asked by Mr Gurney whether the purpose of the call was “to drop Adam Carruthers and Lindsay Dalgleish in it”, Mr Meikle said: “That could be a conclusion that could be drawn by the court.”

Earlier, Mr Gurney asked the detective about Graham insinuating that Carruthers was guilty.

Mr Meikle replied: “When you read the interviews it tends to fluctuate between he is saying that Adam Carruthers is responsible, he also contradicts that by saying he doesn’t know.”

Mr Gurney said: “He (Graham) says in his interview that he is not a grass and he won’t name anyone, then goes on to suggest he doesn’t want to ruin someone’s life because he has a young family and it is a well known fact he (Carruthers) has a young family.”

Mr Meikle replied: “Again, he has a young family.”

The trial was told how the police investigation into the damage included people who had issues with the National Trust, and even a young boy who reported his brother.

Mr Meikle said he looked into the claims about Mr Dalgleish, who has been named by Graham as a suspect during the trial, but was “satisfied that he wasn’t involved”.

The trial continues.