Unlawful tree felling costs man thousands of pounds

A man who unlawfully felled two protected trees in Ifield was fined a total of £7,881 at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (3 February).

Damian Sawyer was prosecuted by Crawley Borough Council and pleaded guilty to felling a cherry tree and a yew tree contrary to a tree protection order.

In 2015, Mr Sawyer had applied to the council to chop down one of the trees. His application was refused but he felled that tree and another protected tree anyway.

For felling the cherry tree, described by magistrates as a ‘community asset’, Mr Sawyer was fined £4,154. For felling the yew tree he was fined £2,769. He was also ordered to pay the prosecution costs of £768 and the government surcharge of £190.

Magistrates took into account Mr Sawyer’s guilty plea at the earliest opportunity and mitigation which included that he had planted replacement trees.

For more information about tree preservation orders visit our tree presevation orders page.