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15
Sept 2022
A drink-driving solicitor rammed his car into his wife’s home following months of marital discord in which he falsely accused her of being unfaithful and forced her to flee the house.
Richard Wade-Smith, 66, a former “high-powered” solicitor from Harrogate, waged an unrelenting harassment campaign against his now-former partner.
It culminated in the early hours of Boxing Day last year when she was awoken by a terrible “smashing” noise, prosecutor Brooke Morrison told York Crown Court.
The ex-partner initially thought it was an “explosion” but then heard an engine revving and locked herself inside a bedroom as she was too scared to go out and see what it was.
She called police and it was only when officers arrived that she dared venture outside her home in Slingsby Walk, near the Stray.
To her horror, she realised it was Wade-Smith, who had rammed his Nissan Qashqai into her front door.
Police helped Wade-Smith out of the car, which was damaged along with the front of his ex-partner's semi-detached home. He was taken into custody where a breath test showed he was nearly twice the drink-drive limit.
Wade-Smith, a Cambridge law graduate whose legal specialisms included planning and environmental matters, was arrested and charged with harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property and drink-driving.
He ultimately admitted the offences and appeared for sentence today when the court was told about the couple’s toxic relationship and Wade-Smith’s unrelenting harassment of the victim.
Mr Morris said that due to this “strong” personal mitigation, he would not be sending Wade-Smith to jail, nor imposing a suspended prison sentence because the former lawyer would be released immediately without accommodation due to the nine months he had spent on remand.
Instead, Wade-Smith received a three-year community order with 40 rehabilitation-activity days “to help “rebuild your life”.
Mr Morris said a community order with support rather than a suspended prison sentence was more “appropriate”, otherwise Wade-Smith would be released from prison “unaided” and with nowhere to live and “on the streets”.
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