Northumberland lumberjack mistaken for namesake charged with Sycamore Gap tree felling

Daniel Graham, 30, from near Alnwick, works as a self-employed forestry contractor and has been mistaken on Facebook for his namesake, who just so happens to have been charged for an alleged crime with coincidental similarities to Daniel’s actual job.

Two men from Cumbria were charged with criminal damage to the Sycamore Gap tree, which was illegally felled in September 2023.

Daniel Graham, 38, and Adam Carruthers, 31, have also been charged with criminal damage to Hadrian’s Wall and are due to appear at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 15.

Daniel often shares pictures of himself doing his job to promote his business, but this unfortunately led to an onslaught of calls and texts came through after police charged his namesake in connection with the tree's destruction.

He became aware of what was happening when his friends began contacting him. After realising it wasn’t a joke, the calls and texts started.

"Some of it was quite nasty,” he explained.

Daniel has expressed his concern for what the wrong identification could mean for his business.

"I'm worried that down the line people will forget the age and where people come from,” Daniel said. “And they will just remember the name Daniel Graham and I'll be stuck with it.

“It's annoying and frustrating. I can see it impacting my business down the line. It is just a coincidence. I don't even know anyone else called Daniel Graham and now there's another one basically on my doorstep."

He asks for people to stop contacting him and to understand that he has no connection with the felling of Sycamore Gap.