news Famous Sycamore Gap Tree chopped down after 200 years, 16 year old arrested

[Danny789]

11 minutes ago, Trent W said:

No it’s not creepy. Your thought process is dangerous because it gives a pass and the wrong idea that just because your a teen or young you can get away with **** like this

 

And a lot of teens know they get nothing more than a slap in the wrist for doing horrible stuff like this

 

The same people that were defending those teens that killed the baby swans and eat them in front of the mom are the same people defending this.

 

Please don’t have kids if you are going to have this type of weak parenting, cause weak parents are the reason **** like this happens.

The punishment should fit the crime and “having his life ruined” like you’ve said does not fit the crime no matter how many people thought the tree was pretty. Please don’t have kids if you think a tree is worth a child’s life. 

[Trent W]

8 minutes ago, Danny789 said:

The punishment should fit the crime and “having his life ruined” like you’ve said does not fit the crime no matter how many people thought the tree was pretty. Please don’t have kids if you think a tree is worth a child’s life. 

Is not that a tree is worth more than a kids life

 

Is that this tree was worth more than this worthless teen

 

And at 16 you are not a kid anymore, you are close to an adult, you already know what’s right and wrong

[The7thStranger]

17 minutes ago, Danny789 said:

The punishment should fit the crime and “having his life ruined” like you’ve said does not fit the crime no matter how many people thought the tree was pretty. Please don’t have kids if you think a tree is worth a child’s life. 

There is no child here, to be fair. And it's about more than just a tree, as others have pointed out.

 

No, he should not "have his life ruined," as you put it. But a fine and community service? That's a bit weak. Maybe for community service, he should spend some time working on a farm or helping to plant trees. Not just picking up trash on a road for a month.

[Danny789]

13 minutes ago, Trent W said:

Is not that a tree is worth more than a kids life

 

Is that this tree was worth more than this worthless teen

 

And at 16 you are not a kid anymore, you are close to an adult, you already know what’s right and wrong

But what makes him worthless? Chopping a famous tree means he’s irredeemable and not worth compassion? They’ve only questioned him currently, we don’t have a motive and there hasn’t been a trial but you feel the need  to call him worthless?

[Danny789]

6 minutes ago, The7thStranger said:

There is no child here, to be fair. And it's about more than just a tree, as others have pointed out.

 

No, he should not "have his life ruined," as you put it. But a fine and community service? That's a bit weak. Maybe for community service, he should spend some time working on a farm or helping to plant trees. Not just picking up trash on a road for a month.

I’m 34 and to me 16 is a child, the amount people grow from 16 to 21 is huge. 

[HEAVYONIT]

Straight to the electric chair tbh 

[ToMmY]

They need to use him as an example and lock him up for several years.

[The7thStranger]

1 minute ago, Danny789 said:

I’m 34 and to me 16 is a child, the amount people grow from 16 to 21 is huge. 

Don't patronize me. I'm also in my mid-30s, and I'm not saying we need to hold a 16 year old to same standards as a fully grown adult. But I also don't see how it's helpful to anybody in this situation to ass-pat a person who has had a full sixteen trips around the Sun to figure out that needless destruction, particularly of a national treasure, is not right and is, indeed, criminally punishable.

[Angels]

I used to live near this and it was so pretty. Such a shame

[Aspookykid]

People just have no respect these days smh

[PMM]

chop him off this earth

[Worm]

This seems a little fishy to me. 16 year olds can't even drive in the UK and I don't think they can buy chainsaws.

 

And from the sounds of things, the tree is pretty deep into a nature walk/hike? So the 16 year old presumably had to lug a heavy chainsaw a pretty large distance on foot in the middle of the night to fell the tree and then walk all the way back with the chainsaw and stash it somewhere? 

 

Granted, I know nothing about chainsaws or tree felling so maybe this is a lot easier than it seems. But it strikes me as a pretty weird target for a kid to go after, with so much premeditation and planning required. You'd expect them to do a much more juvenile and impulsive act of vandalism, rather then a carefully premeditated and planned attack on the community's darling tree. You'd also expect them to try fire or to burn the tree down, because kids are stupid and don't think of the consequences of their actions and something like burning the tree down would probably occur to them first (and requires much less specific and easier to carry tools).

 

This just feels more like something an adult with a grudge against the land owners would do, or someone from one of those radical online groups that are popping up all the time nowadays, maybe one that doesn't like trees or heritage for whatever reason. But who knows.

 

 

[glitch]

7 minutes ago, Worm said:

This seems a little fishy to me. 16 year olds can't even drive in the UK and I don't think they can buy chainsaws.

Yep and they've now also arrested a man in his 60s. I doubt this teenager did this by himself 

[FOCK]

3 hours ago, Trent W said:

 

You do know that trees can feel and are inter-connected with one another right?

Plants respond to stimuli in their environment. They don’t “feel”. 
 

This was a single tree on a hill. 
 

3 hours ago, Trent W said:

 

Just because they don’t have a nervous system doesn’t mean they don’t have some sort of experience when they are taken down. They are living beings

I thought we were beyond this elementary “pLanTs HaVE f33lInGz too” argument - but sure.
 

If he deserves jail or death for chopping a single tree, what do those that needlessly kill animals and those than fund it deserve, seeing as it’s the death of infinitely more trees and animals? 

 

3 hours ago, Trent W said:

 

Also they are basically the oxygen of the planet, cutting a 200 year old one is the worst thing someone could set as an example.

Right.

And the biggest cause of deforestation is cattle farming. Cattle farming is also the biggest cause of destruction of the Amazon rainforest - a hellavalot more trees being destroyed (and older) than this one. 

 

We’re not in disagreement. I never claimed it was an ok thing to do - just that those calling for severe punishment & death, should get a clue, & have taken their apparent concern and moral standing, to its logical conclusion.
 

The level of dissonance people engage with when confronted by the ramifications of their own behaviour and hypocrisy, is always fascinating. It’s apparent they’d much rather pass judgement on others, even children, than make a simple connection or invite an opportunity for self reflection. 

Edited September 30, 2023 by FOCK

[Delirious]

3 hours ago, Domination said:

Please look up what anti-social behavior is. It does not just mean “shy”  

Oh whoops. Psychopathy and sociopathy. You may be right I fear 

[ICLDXU4HS]

Anything criminal justice always without failing has the #1 worst takes and least nuance on ATRL.

[Flanders]

Poor tree!!  The only redeeming part about this is that it will probably attract fewer influencers to that area

[Laura Palmer]

Edited September 30, 2023 by Laura Palmer
Keeping it cute xo

[Peroxide]

This is horrible and sad… but I’m not sure if putting the kid in jail for 20 years is an appropriate punishment?

 

And like others have said, it clearly wasn’t just him.

 

Not to mention unquantifiable numbers of trees are cut down every single day… miss @FOCK made some very good points.

[GlamSlam]

8 hours ago, DougAF said:

The amount of people trying to write off the kids actions as a young kid’s mistake and that he shouldn’t be chastised for the rest of his life. Do you know how psychotic you have to be in the head to go chop down a tree in the middle of the night? He absolutely deserves to be shunned because he had so much time to rethink his choices before he made them. 
 

Agree 100%.

 

There has to be something wrong with someone who goes out in the dead of night to chop down a tree out of spite. 

 

and to those saying "It's only a tree".... well no, it wasn't. It was an iconic landmark that attracted people from all over the world for decades.

 

The person (or rather people) who did it deserve everything they get.

 

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by GlamSlam

[Gui Blackout]

3 hours ago, PMM said:

chop him off this earth

Bring back the Code of Hammurabi

[Frappucino]

They arrested someone else. You guys are ******* weird wanting a mob lynch on a minor when we don't have all the facts yet. 

[LookinAssHittas]

Is it possible if we could glue the tree back together or something? This is awful

 

Send this piece of **** to JAIL!

[TheCal]

Okay... sending him to a jail might not be appropriate...

 

Castration will be enough of a punishment

[DougAF]

9 hours ago, Onyxmage said:

No he does not need to go to prison for 10 years for chopping down a tree you sound crazy.  

He literally went out of his way to cut down a 200 year tree. Trees are living things too, sis. What about the tourists it brought in and the local businesses that will be affected? It was a very popular spot for photography. He absolutely deserves prison time. When you go to prison for murder you get charged more severely based on whether the crime was premeditated or not. That same logic needs to be applied here. No little cute slap on the wrist or fine. The good sis literally went so far out of the way of a NORMAL 16 year old to deliberately chop down a tree, and for what? Lock his ass up and make an example out of him. 
 

Imagine if every 16 year old felt entitled enough to destroy historic landmarks or monuments.