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08
Jun 2023
Former Harrogate solicitor jailed for indecent exposure in Knaresborough
A former Harrogate solicitor has been jailed for four weeks for indecent exposure.
Richard Wade-Smith, 67, was charged with exposing his genitals on Stockwell Lane in Knaresborough.
York Magistrates Court heard the incident happened between May 7 and May 10 this year.
Wade-Smith, who appeared in court via link from HMP Hull on Monday, pleaded guilty to the offence.
He was jailed for four weeks and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £154 and court costs of £85.
A court document detailing the sentence said the offence was serious because it caused a “distressing experience in presence of children and occurred on multiple occasions”.
It added that Wade-Smith's guilty plea was taken into account when sentencing him.
Read more:
- Former solicitor breached restraining order in Harrogate
- Harrogate solicitor jailed after breaching restraining order
Wade-Smith, who worked for various law firms in Yorkshire and later ran his own legal service from Wedderburn House, had previously been jailed for breaching a restraining order in December 2022.
The 67-year-old was given the order by York Crown Court after he rammed his car into his wife’s home in Harrogate on Boxing Day 2021 and subjected her to “mental torture”.
He was jailed for 10 months after he breached the order, which banned him from going near his wife’s address, by knocking on her door just four days after being spared jail.
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