Video footage allegedly showing the chopping down of the famous Sycamore Gap tree has been played to a jury.

The footage was taken on the mobile phone of Daniel Graham, said prosecutor Richard Wright KC, and shows the outline of a figure working at the trunk of the tree, before it finally crashes to the ground.

Police analyst Amy Sutherland told the jury at Newcastle Crown Court that the video was in the downloads on Graham’s phone and the coordinates of where it was filmed were for Sycamore Gap.

Speaking to the jury during the case opening on Tuesday, Mr Wright said the grainy video was filmed at 12.31am on September 28.

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Graham, 39, from Carlisle, and Adam Carruthers, 32, from Wigton in Cumbria, are both charged with two counts of criminal damage relating to the tree and a section of Hadrian’s Wall it fell on on the night of 27 September, 2023. They both deny the charges.

On Wednesday, police analyst Amy Sutherland introduced the video, which lasts two minutes and 40 seconds. She said it was “in darkness” but that “sounds of a chainsaw” could be heard.

The video was played to the jury twice – once showing the dark, raw footage, and a second time after it had been enhanced by a police specialist.

On Tuesday, Mr Wright told the jury: “In simple terms, Graham’s phone was right there at Sycamore Gap as the tree was being cut down, and his phone filmed the tree being cut down.”

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