At Newcastle Crown Court, Adam Carruthers of Wigton, Cumbria, denied causing damage to the well photographed Northumberland tree worth £622,191.
The 31-year-old also refuted claims that the tree’s fall on the night of September 28, 2018, damaged Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to the tune of £1,144.
According to his attorney Christopher Knox, co-accused Daniel Graham, 38, of Milbeck Stables, Carlisle, was “unavoidably detained” and was unable to attend the hearing.
Graham had already appeared in magistrates’ court and denied the same offenses.
Carruthers was given conditional release while awaiting trial, and Judge Paul Sloan KC set the date of the trial for December 3.
On August 27, he scheduled a case management hearing.
One of the most photographed trees in the United Kingdom is the Sycamore Gap tree, which gained notoriety in a scene from Kevin Costner’s 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
The King was the first to receive a seedling after it was announced last month that seeds taken from the tree after it was destroyed are starting to sprout.
