Mrs Justice Lambert says the tree was also a part of the landscape and our "natural heritage".

The tree was a landmark for Northumberland and a "symbol of the untamed beauty" of the landscape around Hadrian's Wall, the judge says.

She says it featured prominently in art and local tourism and was a place of peace and tranquillity to which people returned year after year.

She says it also had great personal significance for many people.

The judge says she cannot be sure what the motive was but believes "bravado" and "thrill seeking" were a major factor.

She rejects Carruthers' claim that he was drunk, adding the operation required skill and co-ordination.

Meanwhile, Graham had continued to seek to blame it all on Carruthers, having told probation officers it was Carruthers' "dream" and "show" and Graham just went along with it.

"Although there may be grains of truth, I do not accept they are wholly honest or the whole story," the judge says.

"I'm confident a major factor was sheer bravado," the judge says, adding the action of felling the tree and the outrage it caused gave the men "some sort of thrill".

She says both men were "equally culpable".

The judge says she is sure the felling had a "high degree of planning and preparation".

She says she cannot be sure when the men made the plan, and it may only have been earlier that evening, but it required thought and preparation, both in getting to the tree and making sure they had the correct equipment.

"It took effort," she says, adding it involved travelling at night in a storm and cutting down the tree in the dark.

The judge says she is also satisfied the men intended to destroy the tree, with the damage to the wall being collateral damage.

She said as "experienced tree surgeons" they knew which way it would fall.

Erica Witherington
Reporting from Newcastle Crown Court

The public gallery is silent, with the sound of hasty tapping of laptops coming from the press benches.

Mrs Justice Lambert is speaking at a quick pace, addressing Graham and Carruthers directly, telling them exactly what she finds they did.

At the trial neither accepted any involvement in the felling, the judge says.

In subsequent interviews with probation services they have since both admitted being involved.

The judge says that is how she can be "sure" it was Carruthers who felled the tree and that Graham assisted by driving the pair there and back and filming the moment of destruction on his phone.

Mrs Justice Lambert says the men "revelled in their notoriety" in the aftermath.

She said they shared images of the tree and screenshots of people's outraged posts on social media.

In response to the first picture, Graham said: "Here we go."

They also followed coverage of the arrest of two other people for the offence before the defendants were eventually arrested on 31 October.

The hearing resumes with Mrs Justice Lambert addressing Graham and Carruthers.

She says they were experienced tree surgeons who made a 40 minute drive and then 20 minute walk to get to the Sycamore Gap site shortly after midnight on the night of 27 September 2023.

She says Carruthers used a can of spray paint to mark a cutting point, then cut a wedge out of the trunk to create a hinge.

The felling took place between two and a half and three minutes to complete, with Graham filming it on his phone, the court hears.

They then took the wedge of trunk away as a trophy.

Neither the wedge nor chainsaw has been recovered, the judge says.

Erica Witherington
Reporting from Newcastle Crown Court

Back in the public gallery, Sheila Hillman is chatting away with Carruthers' friends on the front row as we wait for proceedings to get going.

She is quite a character.

These young men are totally absorbed and chuckling away at her stories and remonstrations.

One has just tipped his head back and guffawed with laughter, as hilarity ripples through the entire gallery.

Graham and Carruthers cannot see much of it from their vantage point in the dock.

They stare ahead blankly, awaiting their fate.

We were told the judge would return at 14:30 BST, but no sign yet.

Courtroom one at Newcastle Crown Court is now full again as we await Mrs Justice Lambert to come and give her sentencing remarks.

Fiona Trott
Reporting from Newcastle Crown Court

Both defendants are back in the dock.

First Daniel Graham, then Adam Carruthers arrived two minutes later.

Not once have they acknowledged each other in court today.

We're expecting the sentencing of Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers to begin shortly.

Our reporters in Newcastle will file updates live from court, but you will also be able to watch the judge handing down her sentence live at the top of this page - just click watch live.

Erica Witherington
Reporting from Newcastle Crown Court

In the breaks I have been chatting to some of those who have managed to get a seat in the public gallery.

Sheila and John Hillman have travelled here from the West Midlands - at a cost of more than £500 in train tickets and a Travelodge.

Mrs Hillman is 78, leaning on a walker, and in recovery from major surgery.

Through tears, she was nodding firmly as the prosecution reminded the judge of the tree's "iconic" and "totemic" status.

Born a Geordie, Mrs Hillman told me she was "heartbroken" when the tree was felled.

Though she is meant to be resting, she said she was determined to be here in court "to see justice done".

For her, she said that would look like five to seven years behind bars. Mr Hillman, 84, would be less lenient.

Helen Briggs
Environment correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The felling of the Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland has put our relationship with trees, and the natural world more widely, back under the spotlight.

It has prompted calls for stricter legal protections for trees, not only to help prevent similar crimes in future but also to help the public appreciate the value of trees at a time when many of our woodlands are in poor health and targets for tree-planting are not being met.

But, even if the government was to back calls for greater legal protections, other questions remain - namely, which trees should be protected?

And arguably even more pressingly: should Britain be thinking more broadly about how to save our depleting woodlands and is legal protection enough or is a fundamental rethink required?

You can read more here.

Martin Lindsay
BBC North East and Cumbria Investigations

While we wait for the court to resume it's worth remembering the people directly affected by the tree's felling.

Gary Pickles' working day on 28 September 2023 had barely started when a farmer called his office to report the tree was down.

"It was shock," he says. He drove down to the site and was met with a gaping hole in the landscape.

But the sadness he was feeling soon turned to anger and panic.

"When I got there I realised it had been chopped down and not blown down," he said.

The news then quickly travelled around the world.

You can read more here.

Jane Downs
BBC North East and Cumbria Investigations

The court has broken for lunch and proceedings are due to resume at 14:15.

While you're waiting, you could listen to this podcast created by BBC Radio Newcastle and hosted by TV chef and Hairy Biker Si King.

It traces the story of the tree, from its roots on Hadrian's Wall to the outrage and horror caused by its felling in September 2023.

You can listen to Felled: The Sycamore Gap Story here.

The court has now broken for lunch, with the judge expecting to return at about 14:15 to deliver her sentence.

It has been a fascinating morning with the prosecution and defence sides laying out what they think are the important factors when determining the final sentence.

The maximum prison term the men could face is 10 years but the range is between 18 months and four years, prosecutors say.

They say the men planned the attack and carried it out in a professional way, with the harm caused deemed to be at the highest level.

Lawyers for the men say it was an act of "drunken stupidity" and they would have to carry the burden for the rest of their lives.

Image source, PA Media

Andrew Gurney, representing Carruthers, says the question many people have is why the men felled the tree.

"Unfortunately it is no more than drunken stupidity," Mr Gurney says, adding Carruthers had made admissions to probation officers in a bid to "cleanse the burden on his conscience".

Mr Gurney says, while the damage caused by cutting down the tree was "foreseeable", Carruthers did not believe his "ignorant and stupid act" would cause as much distress to the community and nation as a whole.

He says Carruthers will have to "bear the burden of what he has done for the rest of his life" and would "forever be linked to this act". He will have to carry that as "some form of personal penance".

Mr Gurney also says it is a "unique and unprecedented sentencing exercise" due in part to the "cultural and heritage impact" of the criminal damage.

Mr Knox says when Graham is eventually released from prison he will have to "re-establish himself".

He says Graham would be effectively homeless and would rely on friends for help but he was confident he would be able to make something of himself.

Image source, PA Media

Christopher Knox has just told the court his client, Daniel Graham, was a "very troubled" man who had made a "serious attempt on his own life" in December which resulted in him being in hospital for several weeks.

He was then remanded into custody ahead of the trial for his own safety, Mr Knox says. The court has heard Graham was remanded into prison from 21 December.

Mr Knox says Graham has had a "very difficult struggle not of his own making", although he would not elaborate on this in open court.

He says Graham ran a "proper business" which was attacked after his remand into custody and he had also received hate mail showing "unpleasant, malign intent to him".

Windows were smashed and removed from his caravan at his yard near Carlisle, the court has heard.

Mr Knox says Graham also admitted his involvement in the felling to probation officers.