As a social worker who wrote hundreds of pre-sentence reports before becoming a criminologist, and someone who has been to prison before all of that, I would urge the judge in the case of the two men convicted of felling the Sycamore Gap tree to act creatively and constructively (Two men found guilty of ‘mindless, moronic’ felling of Sycamore Gap tree, 9 May).
The UK sends more people to prison, and for longer, than all other European countries. People seem to think that anything other than a prison sentence is tantamount to absolving the convicted of guilt and letting them escape punishment. Community penalties restrict liberty, and compel individuals to put something back and learn from their mistakes. Sending the two men to prison will damage their respective futures and achieve little else.
Conventional mitigations that the men have shown remorse or insight into their actions both seem absent at this stage, but although locking them up might be popular, it would do little more than give legal form to the destructive vengeful sentiments of an understandably outraged public.
A creative sentence would challenge the men to face up to what they have done, while a custodial sentence will merely get rid of them for a while. There are alternatives, and this is a great opportunity for the judge to use them. Doing so would show that the men’s actions can be condemned without adding needlessly to the sum of misery and destruction in the world.
Dr Rod Earle
Senior lecturer in youth justice, The Open University
No doubt this was an idiotic act of wanton vandalism, but let’s get a bit of proportion here. Sycamore trees are not native to Britain, but probably brought here in the 1500s. This sycamore was not particularly old. If the tree was so “iconic”, why had the local council failed to place a tree preservation order on it? The monetary value placed on the tree in the trial – £622,191 – was ridiculous. How on earth was that calculated? Based on outrage?
How will society benefit from a custodial sentence for these two fools? Would it not be more fitting for a court to decide that they should plant 2,000 trees each? Planting trees is loathsome, back-breaking work. Justice served and hopefully a lesson learned.
Matt Powell
Holne, Devon
The two men found guilty of what is described as the “mindless” and “moronic” felling of the Sycamore Gap tree have been told by the judge that they could face “a lengthy period” in jail.
It was indeed a tragedy. Yet no developer or landowner has ever gone to prison for cutting down beloved and listed trees. At best, they get a slap on the wrist or a paltry fine far less than the profit made. If you want to chop down a wonderful tree and get away with it, be moneyed and middle class. This seems to be the law at its most classist.
Shayne Mary Mitchell
Cambridge
If Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham can be given a custodial sentence for cutting down a 150-year-old sycamore, I think that the managers of the Toby Carvery who commissioned the cutting down of a 500-year-old oak should face a commensurate sentence, so it’s a shame that the police decided that it was civil matter and closed their investigation (Felling of ancient London oak tree by Toby Carvery owner reported to police, 15 April).
Michael Fort
Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
