A man accused of chopping down the world-famous Sycamore Gap tree told police he was being framed for the crime as part of a dispute with someone “stirring the pot”. Groundworker Daniel Graham, 39, said he knew how to cut down trees and had three or four chainsaws, but insisted he was not trained to fell anything as large as the 100-year-old sycamore beside Hadrian’s Wall.

Graham and former friend Adam Carruthers, 32, each deny two counts of causing criminal damage in September 2023. The prosecution say they travelled from Carlisle 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. Video of the moment the tree plummeted to the ground – filmed on a mobile phone belonging to Graham – has been played to jurors.

On the third day of the trial, Newcastle Crown Court heard how Graham told police in an interview that he thought he was being “fixed up” and mentioned a “fake profile” and a “pikey down the road” when asked with whom he was in dispute.

He told police there had been an altercation when his friend Carruthers was assaulted, and Facebook messages later appeared, accusing him and Carruthers of felling the Sycamore Gap tree.

He said: “It was all false f****** s***e, someone stirring the pot.”

Asked if the dispute was ongoing, he replied: “Obviously it’s not finished because I’m f****** in here.”

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 the same day at the caravan where he was living at The Old Fuel Depot at Kirkbride Airfield, Wigton, Cumbria.

In his first interview with police, Graham said he allowed other people to use his Range Rover.

His business had 11 vehicles, including wagons, tippers and dumpers, and others could drive them.

He said: “I couldn’t give a ***** who uses the Range Rover, it’s there to use, that’s all it’s there for.”

Graham later added: “Adam takes it whenever he needs it like. A good pal, Adam.”

The jury has been told the defendants now appeared to blame each other and their once-close friendship has “unravelled”.

Asked by police if Carruthers had ever worked for him, Graham said: “He does tree work with us. All Adam does is tree work.”

Asked whether Carruthers was an experienced tree surgeon, Graham replied: “I wouldn’t say tree surgeon. He’s keen. You can put him up a tree with ropes and not worry he’s going to come down.”

Graham told police he was self-employed and he sometimes cut down trees as part of the business.

Asked if any of the chainsaws he owned could be linked to cutting down the sycamore, Graham told police: “They wouldn’t be big enough.”

Asked how he would cut down the tree at Sycamore Gap, he replied: “I have never done a large fell, I haven’t been trained for that.”

When he was asked how he would fell a tree from the bottom, he said he would cut a wedge from one side, cut in from the other side and would be aware of which way it was going to fall.

In the same interview, Graham told police: “I know who’s done it and I’m going to get my own back,” but then said he meant he knew who had accused him.

He said: “It’s nowt to do with me and I don’t know who’s done it, but I know who’s put my name forwards.

In an interview with police, Daniel Graham was shown a video taken from his mobile phone that prosecutors say shows the Sycamore Gap tree being cut down.

Asked about the sound of a chainsaw on the footage, he said: “From the sound there I guarantee whatever saws you’ve got from mine – not one of them will sound like that.”

Telling officers he couldn’t see anything on the video, Graham said: “Can you not do something about this light because I’m pretty sure you’re going to be able to see the person who is by the tree.”

Graham then answered “no comment” when asked if it was him on the video felling the tree.

When told the coordinates where the video was filmed matched Sycamore Gap, Graham said: “That might be my phone but it doesn’t mean that I was stood behind it.”

An officer asked him: “Your phone was there so were you videoing that?” He replied: “No.”

Graham answered “no comment” when asked if someone else had used his phone, or if he had seen the video before. He gave the same reply when asked about two videos and a photo on his phone showing a chunk of a tree and a chainsaw in the boot of a vehicle.

Earlier, jurors heard police searched a home in Wigton linked to Carruthers, hoping to find a missing chainsaw and wedge cut from the tree.

Rebecca Brown, junior counsel for the prosecution, said the house was “extremely cluttered with access to most rooms difficult because of this” and there was no sign of any chainsaws or the wedge.

The trial continues.