Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were both jailed for four years and three months for the felling of the iconic tree that stood at Scyamore Gap.

Mrs Justice Lambert said it was Carruthers, who admitted he had downed a bottle of whiskey after a "tough day" who felled the tree while Graham recorded the destruction on his phone.

The judge said the pair "revelled in notoriety" in messages they exchanged with each other as news broke across the world about the felling.

Daniel Graham, 39, left, and Adam Carruthers, 32, who were found guilty at Newcastle Crown Court of criminal damage after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree. | PA

placeholder image — Daniel Graham, 39, left, and Adam Carruthers, 32, who were found guilty at Newcastle Crown Court of criminal damage after the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree. | PA

Justice Lambert told them: "At the trial in May neither accepted any involvement in the tree felling. "In recent interviews with probation officers, although still seeking to minimise culpability, you both admitted being present and involved.

"It is on that basis I can now be sure you Adam Carruthers were the person who felled the tree while you Daniel Graham assisted and encouraged him by driving there and back and not least by filming the crime on your phone."

The judge said while the men intended to destroy the tree, their intention with regards to Hadrian's Wall is less clear and it may have been "collateral damage" Justice Lambert said the confessions of the pair are not the "whole story" and rejected Carruthers' claim that he was so drunk he had no memory of what he did.

The judge said "sheer bravado" was behind the offence and the pair got "some sort of thrill" in knowing they were responsible for the crime that so many people were talking about.

Justice Lambert told them: "You appeared to savour the fact that others, including a teenage boy, were investigated for the offences you had committed."

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She added that the felling caused "widespread shock and bewilderment" and that the loss of a place of "natural beauty", "peace and tranquility" was felt far beyond those who had visited the tree.

Judge Lambert said the offence had an extraordinary social impact and caused widespread distress, while destroying an important part of national heritage and causing damage to Hadrian's Wall, which is an important historical site.