Daniel Graham has itted to jurors he was the one who made an anonymous call to police in August 2024.

He said he did that because officers had not listened to him previously when he tried to suggest to them Mr Carruthers was involved or acted on his previous information.

He says the police "didn't do a very good job" and he was sick of his name being referred to online in connection with the tree.

Mr Graham says he was getting calls on his business phone with people abusing him over the tree, adding: "I wanted the police to do something about."

On 22 November, Mr Graham met with the officer in charge of the case, Det Insp Calum Meikle, to get his phone and other possessions back, the court hears.

Mr Graham says he showed the detective pictures of Mr Carruthers with owls, which had chainsaws in the background.

When asked by Mr Knox why he showed the officer the picture, Mr Graham said: "To know they hadn’t done their job properly."

He told officers he didn't want to be a "grass" but was trying to suggest they investigate Mr Carruthers further, the court heard.

The trial has resumed with Daniel Graham in the witness box.

He is now being asked about his first police interview on 31 October.

He said he declined having a solictor present as he "didn't believe I needed one".

When asked why not by his barrister Christopher Knox, Mr Graham replies: "Because I hadn't down owt wrong."

Mr Graham says he also refused to tell the police Mr Carruthers was involved because he was his friend at the time.

He also said he was "cross" at being accused himself.

In just over an hour in the witness box, Daniel Graham has:

• denied being involved in the felling
• said someone else took his car, which was tracked travelling to and from the site
• claimed his phone, which prosecutors say was used to film the felling and was also traced going to and from Sycamore Gap, had been left in his car
• alleged his co-accused Adam Carruthers itted the following morning he had done it
• claimed Mr Carruthers asked him to take the blame as police would go easier on Mr Graham due to his "mental health issues"
• alleged Mr Carruthers had "mentioned" cutting the "most famous tree in the world" down before and had a piece of string the length of its circumference
• said Mr Carruthers had helped him fell many trees in the past and had the equipment to do it

Erica Witherington
Reporting from Newcastle Crown Court

Daniel Graham is standing in the witness box across the room from the jury, with his hands below a desk.

He’s moving his hands from his pockets, then taking them out and touching the ends of his fingers together.

He is dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt with the collar open and black tros.

Mr Graham says Mr Carruthers asked him to take the blame for felling the tree.

He says one night in the following weeks, although he could not recall exactly when, Mr Carruthers and another man came to his home with a pizza.

His two visitors had received messages for a fake Facebook profile accusing them of felling the tree, which was part of a feud they were having with other people, he says.

Mr Graham says the discussion became about if it was "found out" by the authorities Mr Carruthers was involved, would Mr Graham take the blame because he had "a mental health issue".

Mr Graham says he was told the police would be "more lenient" on him because of his issues, and when he refused, they kept saying "nowt will happen to you" and "you will get away it".

The trial has now broken for lunch, with Mr Graham partway through being questioned by his own barrister Christopher Knox.

It will resume at or about 14:00.

Asked if Mr Carruthers had ever discussed the tree with him before, Mr Graham replies: "Yes."

He said the pair were working on a Land Rover in 2021 and he went to use a piece of string to tie something up, but Mr Carruthers told him not use it as it was sentimental.

Mr Graham claims Mr Carruthers laid it in a "large circle" on the floor and said it was the circumference of the Sycamore Gap tree, which he described as "the most famous tree in the world".

He says Mr Carruthers had also "mentioned" chopping it down when he bought a chainsaw bar which Mr Carruthers claimed was "big enough to cover the circumference of the tree", the court hears.

Mr Graham says he could not when he became sure Mr Carruthers had felled the tree.

Daniel Graham says he first realised his car had been moved the following morning when he saw it wasn't parked in the same place.

He said he found the photo of the piece of wood and chainsaw and a video, which prosecutors say is the moment the tree was felled, on his phone but didn't know what they were.

His co-accused Mr Carruthers called him on WhatsApp at 09:22 that morning for five minutes.

Asked what he could of that phone call, Mr Graham says: "Adam claiming he had cut down Sycamore Gap tree."

Mr Graham says he did not believe Mr Carruthers.

Mr Graham says it was not unusual for his phone to be left in his car.

Asked if he would be "troubled" about not having his phone with him, Mr Graham replied "no".

He said his phone was in constant use during the day for work, adding: "It never really stops."

So when he finished work on an evening, he would not keep his phone with him.

"I like to get away from my phone," he says.

Asked if it was him using his phone that night, Mr Graham replies: "No, it was not."

The court has heard Mr Graham's phone was tracked by cell site analysis moving to and from the Sycamore Gap site that night, but Mr Carruthers' was not.

Prosecutors said that was because Mr Carruthers' phone was a much older generation so was not using 5G.

Mr Graham says "as long as I have known" Mr Carruthers, he has had two phones, one with a sim card which he used for calls and another one he used just for the internet.

Talk has now returned to "that night", as Mr Knox calls it.

Asked if he had "any idea" his Range Rover was being driven that night, Mr Graham replies: "No."

He also said many people knew the code to unlock his iPhone 13, including Mr Carruthers and "anybody that works" for Mr Graham.

Mr Graham also says he did not have kit for climbing trees, but claims Mr Carruthers did.

More on the work the men did together.

Mr Graham says he had a lot of work removing ash trees affected by ash dieback, taking down about 27 or 28 at an aggregate company in Carlisle on one occasion, for example.

Pictures show a truck being used as an anchor to stop the trees falling on to a road as they are removed, Mr Graham says.

Asked who was doing the work, Mr Graham replies: "Just me and Adam."

He also says Mr Carruthers had a long-bar chainsaw and was capable of changing the blades.

Mr Graham says he looked at pictures of the Sycamore Gap tree and it would most likely have needed a bigger chainsaw to bring it down.

"If you want fell a bigger tree you need a bigger bar," he says. "You could do it with a smaller saw but the simplest and quickest way to do it would be the big bar."

Mr Graham says he ran his own groundworks company, a part of which was "tree work".

Mr Carruthers would help him with that, he says, with a picture shown to jurors of Mr Carruthers on a cherry-picker, chopping off the top of a tree.

Mr Graham says he took pictures of himself and Mr Carruthers removing a tree which had a council order put upon it due to ash dieback.

A number of chainsaws were photographed at a workshop used by Mr Carruthers, the court hears.

They were in the background of pictures Mr Graham was taking of some young owls which had fallen from their nest in the building and he and others were picking up to put back, the court hears.

Daniel Graham says he and Adam Carruthers were the "best of pals" in September 2023.

They became good friends after Mr Carruthers restored a Land Rover Defender which had been the "pride and joy" of Mr Graham's father, the court hears.

Mr Graham's voice cracks as he recalls how his father killed himself and Mr Carruthers ensured the Land Rover could be used for his funeral.

He says Mr Carruthers was welcome to use any of his vehicles, including the Range Rover captured going to and from Sycamore Gap.

Mr Graham says his Range Rover must have been taken by someone else from his yard, which was not uncommon as he allowed people he knew to borrow his vehicles.

He says the keys were usually kept in the ignition or wedged in the visor above the steering wheel.

Mr Graham says it was "not a fancy car", having been ed in 2009 and clocked up 150,000 miles.

He says it did not have "sentimental value" to him or value generally, as he bought if off his partner when she got a new car.

Mr Graham says it was "very rare" for him to drive the Range Rover as he would normally be in a "wagon".

The first question he is asked by Mr Knox is if he had "anything to do" with chopping down the tree at Sycamore Gap.

"No I did not," Mr Graham replies.

He gives the same response when asked if he damaged the Roman wall, knew the felling was going to happen or participated in any way, for example by watching.

Mr Knox said "we know" Mr Graham's phone and Range Rover were at the scene, to which Mr Graham replies: "Yep."

When asked how they got there, Mr Graham says his phone was in the car, adding: "I know who was driving my car."

Daniel Graham, 39, is now in the witness box.

He is wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, which is open at the collar, and black tros.

He starts by swearing on the Bible to tell the truth, confirming his full name, Daniel Michael Graham, and his address near Carlisle.

Image source, Nick Lewis

With the prosecution closing its case, attention now turns to the defence, starting with Daniel Graham (pictured above on the left beside his co-accused Adam Carruthers).

His barrister, Christopher Knox, will ask him questions before Mr Graham may be examined by Andrew Gurney, who represents Mr Carruthers, and Richard Wright KC of the prosecution.

Defendants do not have to give evidence at their trials, it is entirely their own choice.