A FORESTRY Journal writer has told of being caught in a media storm after being confused with one of the suspects arrested over the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree.

Forester Danny Graham received abusive messages online and was "hounded" by the press after they mistook him for Daniel Graham; another Northumberland woodsman set to stand trial this month over the tree's demise. 

Writing in his monthly column for FJ, our Danny detailed the moment he first heard the news of his "arrest" and the drama that followed. 

"I was in the workshop and was listening to Radio 2 while putting a fresh edge on some Stihl rails when it was announced that I’d just been arrested on suspicion of cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree," he wrote. "The way the announcement was made even convinced me it was me! But how, I reasoned, could they announce it when the police haven’t even arrested me?

The tree's felling caused widespread anger The tree's felling caused widespread anger (Image: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)

"A quick bit of research established that it was indeed a coincidence and I happened to share the name Daniel Graham (same spelling) with another woodsman who knew how to gob a tree. The problem was, no one seemed to know who he was but everyone seemed to know me. So, having craved social isolation, I was immediately subjected to the greatest social bombardment of my life.

"Oh for a bygone era of quills, carrier pigeons and horse power. The phone rang relentlessly – texts, emails and every other form of social media searched for my identity. Friends took the mickey, tree-huggers demanded capital punishment and the National Distrust immediately cancelled my membership. All of this I could cope with, but by far the greatest aggravation was the press as they fell over each other for a slice of the pie."

Danny continued: "I spoke to the Daily Mail and The Telegraph on a first-come, first-served basis, keen to establish that I was not the Daniel Graham in question and to prevent the weird and wonderful from flocking to my door.

"The rest of the press flooded in with their note pads eager for a scoop, but I told them all the same thing: ‘No money, no story! I have a business to run.’ None of them wanted to pay and some left it at that, but what really annoyed me was their sheer persistence.

One of the offending articles in question One of the offending articles in question (Image: Supplied)

"They continued to phone and pester me to the point where I had to become extremely blunt in my responses. They then produced their own articles for their own papers, all based on the original interviews I’d given to the Mail and Telegraph, but bulked with fabrication and quotes which I was alleged to have made, but never had.

"One claimed I’d said ‘this could end my business’, which was completely untrue.

"I’m a self-employed sole trader and have had the chance of work every single day since leaving school. The way I see it, the only thing that could end my business would be my own demise. I would have much preferred it if the headline in The Mirror had read: ‘The real Daniel Graham tells our reporter to “f—k off as I have a business to run.”’ Alas, this was not to be." 

Daniel Graham, 38, of Milbeck Stables, Carlisle, and Adam Carruthers, 31, of Church Street, Wigton, Cumbria, are accused of causing £622,191 worth of damage to the much-photographed tree.

They are also accused of causing £1,144 worth of damage to Hadrian’s Wall, a Unesco World Heritage Site, which was hit by the falling tree when it was felled overnight on September 28.

You can read Danny's full column now.