Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers previously testified at trial that they had nothing to do with the vandalism, but a prosecutor said that the two convicts now blame booze for the act as they admitted before sentencing that they had been on what he termed a “moronic mission” to topple the tree.

The Sycamore Gap tree's refusal to die may have spared the "moronic" duo who felled it a far longer spell behind bars. Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were today sentenced to both serve four years and three months behind bars for chopping down the "totemic" tree.