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    Pair guilty of feeling world-famous Sycamore Gap tree
    United Kingdom

    Pair guilty of feeling world-famous Sycamore Gap tree

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    35 Comments

    1. Fire_Otter on

      It’s the BBC headline that’s spelt wrong and i can’t change it

      For the avoidance of doubt – they have been found guilty of *felling* the sycamore tree

    2. Cyanopicacooki on

      Sounds kinky…feeling a gap…

      Aye well, they’re vandals, and they had the temerity to vandalise something folk loved, so they’ll get the book thrown at them.

    3. LazarusOwenhart on

      Could not have been more guilty if they’d shown up in court wearing ‘we did it!’ t-shirts.

    4. Wild_Cauliflower_970 on

      I don’t think anyone is surprised by this verdict…

      “I swear, I drove three hours away from my house to go to a shopping centre because the ones near me aren’t very good but then didn’t go to the shopping centre in the end anyway and then someone must’ve taken my car and phone while I was asleep, cut down the tree and filmed it on my phone and put a piece of the tree in my car then put my phone and car back and then I don’t know why I said “we” did it when I meant “he”, and by “he” I meant “random person that I don’t know that did it””.

      Like, we’re not a smart nation, but we’re smarter than that!

    6. kingjoffreysmum on

      So they’ve to wait up to 6 weeks for one of them to have a mental health report to be taken into account for sentencing. I’d have thought that would’ve been done in preparation for the case, if it was going to be a factor? Just seems like such an unnecessary delay.

    7. bendubberley_ on

      I’m surprised they pleaded not guilty considering they literally filmed themselves committing the crime

    8. jakethepeg1989 on

      So there wasn’t even a reason behind it?

      I remember at the time there was theories about land disputes with the National Trust etc. But they were literally just dickheads who thought it would be funny!

    10. corpboy on

      Why did they even plead “Not Guilty”? Why did their lawyer advice them they might have a chance in court? It was the most open and shut case ever.

    12. Arseypoowank on

      39?? Is he aging in fast forward? Thought he was in his mid to late fifties from the photo they have of him

    13. DRSandDuvetDays on

      Honestly, even though a lot of people will say “it’s just a tree” it’s the fact that these two idiots felt the need to drive for hours and cut down a tree that didn’t belong to them. It’s just a sign of how society has fallen apart

    14. WanderingArtist2 on

      Surely there’s a case for perjury as well here, right, considering all the bullshit they came out with under oath.

    15. limeflavoured on

      Looking forward to the “two men avoid jail…” headlines in July.

      More seriously, I’d be sort of surprised if they don’t get 3 or 4 years.

    16. ThomasEichorst on

      The craziest thing is that there’s only 7 years age difference between the two accused

    17. TinitusTheRed on

      A village somewhere is going to be short of it’s idiots for a while.

      I genuinely can’t wait for sentencing simply because i want to see what these two morons get for their crime and compare that to the greedy landowners that wreck trees with TPOs on them or SSI.

      Given these two aren’t wealthy landowners i expect them to get far harsher sentences.

    18. mikeyyyy_ on

      If anyone want a laugh, I recommend reading some of these court transcripts for the excuses that those two tried to give. They’re like Batman and Robin, if Batman and Robin had the collective IQ of a brick.

    19. Eva_Luna on

      What a pair of absolute mindless thugs. It’s scary we have to walk around sharing a world with people like this, who will cause harm for no other reason than the thought to do so popped into their thick skulls. 

    21. you_aint_seen_me- on

      Good. They’re both morons and I hope this serves as a warning to other morons. I’m pessimistic though. As my Mum would say, “stupid people don’t know they’re stupid”. Oh well, life moves on, keep calm and carry on etc.

    22. Striking-Amoeba-5563 on

      Sad when childhood characters like Mossop & Tiddler stoop so low.

    23. KernowKermit on

      Guilty of Criminal Damage? So, what, maybe six months jail and £5,000 fine? Is that what they might be looking at?

    24. elisePin on

      I’m glad they’ve been found guilty. I was on holiday the week before this happened and made the trip to walk along part of Hadrians wall and visit the sycamore gap, but I wasn’t well and had to turn back. We said we would make the trip to go back and see it soon, but the week after it had been felled.

    25. luala on

      If my husband had gone out for several hours when our baby was 5 days old to cut down a fucking tree, I’d have killed him myself before it got to trial.

    26. Bukr123 on

      They better get the book thrown at them for this. I see absolutely zero reason they shouldn’t get the full sentence of 10 years a piece for this mindless act of destruction. What makes it 10x worse in my opinion is that there seems to be no reason for it, they just did this because they can and for a “laugh” bragging about it afterwards and filming it.

      These two are thick as pig shit and I hope they have plenty of time to think about their utterly terrible decisions while eating porridge for at least a decade.

    27. uncle_monty on

      A pair of 30 something men. Not dickhead teenager, grown men. How the fuck do you still have that mentality at that age.

    28. TinFish77 on

      In sentencing I do not doubt the justice system will over-react and then instantly regret it. Bringing an ironic balance to proceedings.

    29. Soundtones on

      I’m always feeling trees, thought it was good for your chakra or something?

    30. flappyflangeflowers on

      I dont envy the judge. Emotionally, I’m baying for capital punishment involving a chainsaw. However, once i ve supressed my inner irrational rage over a tree, 12 months, a big fine, perpetual shame, and lots of community service is probably the more sensible punishment.

    31. SheevPalpedeine on

      The article states they don’t often jail people for criminal damage however I know people who’ve received 3 year sentences for painting graffiti on trains, so I would imagine they are going to get a lengthy sentence based on the damage claims and impact to tourism etc

    32. Beginning_Sea6458 on

      Feeling a tree isn’t a crime.The problem is they felt it with a chainsaw.

    35. JaMs_buzz on

      Well thats their lives over then 😂 even if they get a relatively lenient sentence they’re always going to be known as the twats that cut down a national icon