Mr Knox also shows two very short video clips, from which the previous picture had been taken as a still, showing Mr Carruthers cutting at a tree.

"That was you up in a cherry-picker?" Mr Knox asks.

Mr Carruthers replies: "That's correct."

Mr Knox says Mr Carruthers arranged to borrow the cherry-picker from a friend to chop down an ash tree that had a court order requiring it to be felled, which Mr Carruthers confirms.

"This was proper chainsaw work, cutting down a big tree?" Mr Knox asks.

Mr Carruthers says that is correct.

Mr Knox says: "You really couldn't remember this was the time you had been cutting trees down when you gave that account to police?"

Mr Carruthers replies: "No, its just your mind goes blank when you're in a situation like that."

Mr Knox says: "You were deliberately trying to give police a false impression weren't you?"

"Not at all," Mr Carruthers replies.

Image source, CPS

The trial has resumed with Adam Carruthers, 32, in the witness box being cross-examined by Christopher Knox, the barrister for his co-accused Daniel Graham.

The first question after the break relates to Mr Carruthers reportedly telling the police on 31 October 2023 it would have been "months ago", probably at the start of summer, when he last used a chainsaw.

"That was perfectly totally untrue, wasn't it?" Mr Knox says, prompting Mr Carruthers to reply: "No that was correct."

Mr Knox shows him a picture (as above) of him using a chainsaw taken on 17 August and asks him again if he was lying to police.

Mr Carruthers says he believed what he was saying at the time to police was correct, adding: "I was pulled in for something I hadn't done, I was thinking 'what's going on'.

"There's all sorts of thoughts going on in your head, your mind goes blank."

Jurors have heard from both defendants this morning.

The day started with Daniel Graham, who became increasingly frustrated with prosecutor Richard Wright KC asking him questions about what he told police and when he allegedly knew Mr Carruthers was responsible for felling the tree.

Then, at about noon, Mr Carruthers entered the witness box where, under questioning by his barrister Andrew Gurney, he began by denying having any involvement in the felling.

Over the course of about an hour leading up to the lunch break, Mr Carruthers remained calm as he detailed his friendship with Mr Graham and his amazement at the world's reaction to the chopping down of what he thought was just a tree.

The morning session ended with him being asked about his ownership of chainsaws - which he denies having - by Mr Graham's barrister Christopher Knox.

Court should resume shortly after 14:00.

The morning has ended with Adam Carruthers still being grilled about his knowledge of chainsaws by Mr Knox, barrister for the co-accused Daniel Graham.

Mr Carruthers says he knows how chainsaws "operate" as they have "internal combustion engines" which he has an interest in.

Mr Knox asks Mr Carruthers to give him the names of anyone else at the business where he worked who could mend chainsaws.

Mr Carruthers says it "all depends on the complexity of the job" but names three people.

"I'm not the only person who repairs chainsaws," Mr Carruthers says, adding: "You can probably take them into the chainsaw dealership."

Court has now broken for lunch.

Mr Gurney has finished his examination after about half an hour and attention now turns to Christopher Knox, the barrister for Daniel Graham.

Mr Knox is asking Mr Carruthers what access he had to tools and equipment at his workplace.

"You used chainsaws there didn't you?" he asks.

"That's incorrect," Mr Carruthers replies.

Image source, CPS

Mr Knox says chainsaws can be seen in pictures taken of Mr Carruthers and some owls (above).

Mr Knox alleges those were Mr Carruthers' chainsaws, to which Mr Carruthers replies that is "incorrect" and the equipment belonged to customers who had dropped them off to be repaired.

Mr Carruthers says a landscape gardener had dropped off a load of broken chainsaws for his boss to sort through to see if any could be salvaged.

Image source, CPS

Mr Gurney is asking Mr Carruthers why he sent Mr Graham a voice note the following day in which he talked about someone lacking the "minerals" to "launch an operation like we did last night".

"I think its been interpreted wrong because it's meant to be launch an operation like what he did, as in the person who done the job," Mr Graham says, adding: "I might sound sexist saying it's a man but I'd have thought it wouldn't be a woman who had done it."

He says he has "no idea" who had actually done it.

Mr Carruthers is asked why he said in another message the response was going "wild".

"I really couldn't get my head around it," Mr Carruthers tells jurors, adding: "How it was a tree at the end of the day, it was going to be on the news.

"I didn't understand how a tree would be able to hit the headlines as much as it did."

He says he was just messaging a friend and "couldn't understand why there had been such a major outbreak, it was almost as if someone had been murdered."

The court has heard Mr Carruthers' partner sent him a video that night of her bottle-feeding their newborn baby daughter.

Mr Carruthers sent a reply in which he said had a "better video than that" to show her, which prosecutors allege was the film of the tree being felled.

Mr Gurney asks what Mr Carruthers actually meant with that message.

Mr Carruthers says earlier that night the roof on his washing shed was damaged and he had made a video of it. Sentimental items such as clothes had been damaged by water coming in through the partially-blown off roof.

His partner had replied "I bet" and he replied "you know the score", jurors heard.

Mr Gurney asks Mr Carruthers what he meant by "you know the score".

He said the video he was talking about was the damage to the shed, adding "it wasn't the best of nights really".

Mr Gurney asks: "Were you referring to the video of the Sycamore Gap tree being felled?"

"No," Mr Carruthers replies.

Mr Carruthers is now being asked about where he was on the night of 27 September 2023.

He tells jurors he was at his home at an airfield near Wigton in Cumbria.

Prosecutors have said messages he sent to his partner showed he was not at home, but Mr Carruthers says he was out in the yard and she was inside.

"Did you leave [your home] that evening?" Mr Gurney asks.

"Not as far as I can remember no," Mr Carruthers replies.

Mr Gurney asks: "Did you see Daniel Graham that evening?"

Mr Carruthers replies: "No."

Mr Carruthers is now being asked why he shared so many snapshots of social media posts and media reports about the felling with his co-accused the morning afterwards.

He says he woke up to find the news "all over Facebook", adding it was "everywhere".

He says: "My understanding was it was just a tree.

"I couldn't understand why everyone was sharing it. It was like every second post was about this tree, I just couldn’t get my head around it.

"The way it was travelling through the news, I was amazed how something so small could create so much publicity."

Mr Gurney asks: "Did you have a fixation on that tree?"

Mr Carruthers replies: "No, not at all."

Mr Gurney asks Mr Carruthers if he was responsible for cutting down the tree.

"Never," Mr Carruthers replies.

He is asked if he ever, as Mr Graham claims, showed his co-accused a piece of string said to be cut to the length of the circumference of the tree.

"Never," Mr Carruthers replies.

Mr Gurney asks Mr Carruthers if he ever asked Mr Graham to "take the blame" for felling the tree.

"Never," Mr Carruthers again replies.

Mr Graham has told jurors Mr Carruthers took his Range Rover and phone to cut down the tree.

Mr Carruthers tells them he only drove the Range Rover once to help Mr Graham with a job moving equipment in the days after the felling.

He also says he never used his co-accused's mobile phone and did not know the pin code.

"Did you take his phone and record the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree?" Mr Gurney asks.

"That’s incorrect," Mr Carruthers says.

Mr Carruthers is asked why the men's friendship ended.

He says Mr Graham arrived at his yard one night and said: "I'm going to go my way, you're going to go your way, I believe you’ve been grassing on me."

Mr Carruthers is asked what Mr Graham meant, to which he replies: "I'm probably guessing it's something to do with why I'm stood here now. Sycamore Gap."

Mr Gurney asks: "Did you ever grass him up?"

Mr Carruthers replies: "Not at all."

Mr Gurney asks Mr Carruthers how many times he and Mr Graham trimmed trees together.

Mr Carruthers isn't sure but says "maybe five or six", and says he offered to help his friend, with the pay for the job being halved between the men.

"We would basically, like, get on the tree, cut some branches off, get it to a state where it could be chopped down."

He says he was "not sure" where the equipment they used came from, adding the tools were "already there" when he arrived at the job and he did not supply them.

When asked if he knows how to use a chainsaw, Mr Carruthers says: "I know briefly how to use a chainsaw.

"I wouldn't say I'm a chainsaw expert. Within a couple of minutes you could teach anyone how to use one.

"It's just the dangers that surround them."

Mr Carruthers tells jurors he has never felled a tree.

Now Mr Carruthers is being asked about his relationship with his co-accused Daniel Graham.

"We just kind of stumbled upon each other as friends," Mr Carruthers says, detailing how it started by him fixing Mr Graham's father's Land Rover "three or four years ago".

Mr Gurney asks: "Did you become good friends?"

Mr Carruthers replies: "Yeah I'd have said we were good friends, aye."

He says they spoke on the phone daily, calling in the morning for the "craic", again at dinner time and in the evening to see how the day had gone, and saw each other three or four times a week.

He says they also worked together a few times, from laying down a driveway to trimming trees.

Mr Carruthers is giving the jurors some information about his life.

He says he works as a mechanic maintaining farm machinery and also "looks after" some residential flats.

Mr Carruthers says he would have a go at fixing anything mechanical, from blenders to big quarry machines.

He also tells jurors his daughter was born days before the tree was felled and he was very busy at the time looking after both her and his partner of 10 years.

Mr Carruthers is being questioned first by his barrister Andrew Gurney.

He starts by swearing an oath to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth".

Mr Gurney asks: "Mr Carruthers, did you cut down the tree at Sycamore Gap?"

Mr Carruthers, dressed in a navy suit and grey tie, replies: "No."

"Did you record the Sycamore Gap tree being cut down?" Mr Gurney asks.

Mr Carruthers replies: "No."

Image source, Nick Lewis

Adam Carruthers is now taking to the witness box.

This is the first time jurors have heard from him directly. The only time they've heard his side was from his police interviews.

In those, Mr Carruthers had denied having any involvement in felling the tree and said he did not have the training or expertise to carry out such a large operation.

His once-good friend and now co-accused Daniel Graham has told jurors Mr Carruthers was fascinated with the tree, admitted chopping it down and took Mr Graham's Range Rover and phone to get to the scene and record the felling.

Mr Graham claimed Mr Carruthers then asked him to take the blame as Mr Graham's "mental health issues" would see him dealt with more leniently.

Mr Carruthers' barrister accused Mr Graham of lying.

The case against Mr Carruthers rests chiefly on his communications with Mr Graham, the court has heard.

The pair were:

• Known to be good friends who worked together on groundworks projects, including chopping up trees
• In regular phone contact throughout 27 September 2023 until the night, at which time prosecutors say they were together
• Exchanging "excited" messages in the days afterwards sharing screenshots of the public outrage, with Mr Carruthers saying in voice notes it was all over the news and someone who criticised them did not have the "minerals" to "launch an operation like we did"

Daniel Graham has now finished his time in the witness box.

This morning he told jurors he had nothing to do with felling the tree but that his friend and co-accused Adam Carruthers had admitted carrying it out.

He denied he was "excited" about media interest in the felling and said he only shared the same interest as "half the world" in finding out what had happened, adding it was "not a crime" to search for news about it on his phone.

He said he initially thought Mr Carruthers was joking when he claimed to have cut down the tree but later came to realise it was true, although he could not remember when that happened.

Mr Graham also said he did not lie to police but also did not want to "grass" on his friend, although he later pointed the finger at him in an anonymous phone call when his own reputation and business was being ruined by accusations.

Mr Knox ends his re-examination of Mr Graham with a question.

"Did you have anything to do with, or were you the filmer of, that cutting down?"

Mr Graham replies: "I did not film it and I did not cut it."

Mr Graham has spent more than four hours in the witness box in total - about three hours or so on Friday and a further hour this morning.

Mr Knox is asking why Mr Graham wouldn't "name names" in his police interviews.

Mr Graham has told jurors he knew Mr Carruthers had done it but did not want to "grass" him up.

"Why wouldn't you name him?" Mr Knox asks.

"At the time he was my pal," Mr Graham says.

He tells jurors he later made an anonymous call to police to point the finger at Mr Carruthers because he did not feel officers had been as extensive in their searches of his co-accused as they should have been.

"If they'd done their job properly, they would have found everything they needed to find."