A solicitor from Harrogate has been remanded in custody after breaching a restraining order preventing him from contacting his ex-wife.

Richard Wade-Smith, 66, appeared at York Crown Court this morning via video link from HMP Hull to be sentenced after pleading guilty to the breach at York Magistrates Court last month.

The court heard he had previously been sentenced to a community order and restraining order on September 15, after ramming his car into his ex-wife’s house at Slingsby Walk, near the Stray in Harrogate. He had admitted harassment causing fear of violence, damaging property, and drink driving.

Just four days after being sentenced, he breached the order, turning up at his ex-wife’s house as well as visiting her neighbour.

Prosecuting, Kelly Sherif said:

“[His former wife] said that ‘I knew that when Richard was released, that he would not abide by any orders and here we are, four days later…

“I sit in my house with the curtains closed, too scared to venture outside in case I see him’.”

The prosecution said Wade-Smith had knocked on his ex-wife’s door at 8.15am, but left when she failed to answer. He then returned at 10.30am and knocked, as well as calling to his wife and saying it was “Susie” at the door.

When she recognised his voice and again did not open the door, he went to the neighbouring house. The neighbour answered the door but told him he should not be there because of the restraining order.

Wade-Smith said he had nowhere to go, but the neighbour repeated that he was not allowed to be near his ex-wife’s home.

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In mitigation, Alasdair Campbell told the court Wade-Smith had been unable to access temporary accommodation following the sentencing on September 15.

It had taken a long time for arrangements to be made for him to leave HMP Hull, by which time Harrogate Borough Council’s offices had closed and he was unable to get a place at a homeless hostel.

He slept rough that night and the next night, then paid “a lot of money” for a hotel the third night. He slept rough again the following night, but woke up in hospital, having been drinking and apparently been robbed, with his bank card and cash taken.

Recovering alcoholic

Wade-Smith, a recovering alcoholic, admitted breaching the restraining order, though he argued he had only visited his former wife’s home once.

Mr Campbell said:

“When I asked him why he did that on that particular occasion, my instructions are that, faced with what he was going through, [he chose] the option of breaching the restraining order to get himself locked up so he had somewhere to stay that night…

“In hindsight, it may have been a foolish option.

“If someone is prepared to breach a serious court order, it does give one some idea of the desperate position he perceived himself to be in.”

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York — who heard Wade-Smith’s original case in September — adjourned sentencing until November to allow a full victim impact statement to be taken from Wade-Smith’s former wife.

He told Mr Campbell that Wade-Smith should have gone back to the council the day after his release to access the hostel place that had been arranged for him by the court.

He added:

“He isn’t stupid, this man. He should have gone the next day.”

Wade-Smith is due to be sentenced on Friday, November 18.

A Porsche driver who killed a cyclist while allegedly using his phone has been found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.

James Bryan, 37, was rushing to get some shopping for his parents during the covid lockdown when his Porsche Carrera 911 ploughed into the back of a bicycle ridden by married father-of-two Andrew Jackson, 36, on the A168 between Wetherby and Boroughbridge, York Crown Court heard.

The prosecution claimed that at the time of the collision, Mr Bryan had been using his mobile and pointed to evidence that showed his Facebook and Instagram accounts were open.

A jury essentially had to decide the case on the single issue of whether Mr Bryan had been using his phone at the time of the fatal crash, which occurred on the afternoon of May 10, 2020.

Mr Bryan denied he was using his phone.

After deliberating long into the afternoon today (Friday, September 23), the jury found him not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. However, he had already admitted causing death by careless driving and will be sentenced for that offence in October.

Social media claims

During the trial, which began earlier this week, prosecutor Anne Richardson alleged that in the moments before the crash at Allerton Park, Mr Bryan must have been distracted by “something” because Mr Jackson was clearly visible.

She claimed that evidence showed he must have been looking at, scrolling through, or reading posts on social media.

Mr Bryan had taken cocaine and been drinking at his friend’s house in Cheshire the night before the fatal collision at Rabbit Hill Park.

A roadside test in the aftermath of the crash showed that although he wasn’t over the limit for either drink or drugs, there were traces of cocaine, or a cocaine breakdown product, in his system.

Ms Richardson claimed that Bryan, who celebrated his 35th birthday just two days before the accident, would have been impaired by the drugs in his system and from being hungover and tired from the alcohol and festivities the night before.

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He was on the way to drop some groceries off at his parents’ house who were isolating during the covid lockdown when the accident occurred at about 1.40pm. Ms Richardson said:

“The front of the Porsche collided with the rear of Mr Jackson’s bike and Andrew Jackson came off his bike, went up in the air and hit his head on the windscreen and roof of the car, and landed on the road behind the car.

“He was pronounced dead at the scene by an off-duty intensive-care consultant.”

“This is an incredibly sad case. A young mother has lost her husband and father to two (very young) children. Her in-laws have lost their only son.”

Mr Bryan, of St Mary’s Avenue, Harrogate, was arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving. He denied the allegation but admitted causing death by careless driving in that he didn’t leave enough room to drive around the bicycle.

Ms Richardson claimed Mr Bryan’s driving was dangerous because he “wasn’t looking at the road ahead of him” as his car approached Mr Jackson.

Died from head injuries

Mr Bryan – who had been at a birthday barbecue in Wilmslow the night before and set off for home early the following morning – called 999 moments after the accident and told a call operator he thought the cyclist was dead.

Other motorists, including the off-duty doctor and his medically trained wife, were on the scene in minutes and called police and an ambulance, but Mr Jackson had already died from head injuries.

Forensic analysis of Mr Bryan’s phone showed that it was unlocked in the moments before the crash and the Instagram and Facebook apps were open.

Mr Bryan was taken in for questioning and told police that Mr Jackson, who lived locally, “came out of nowhere” but then claimed the cyclist had veered into the middle of the road and that he had tried to overtake him, only for the cyclist to “swerve into my path”.

An accident investigator who carried out a reconstruction of the accident said the bike was not in the middle of the road, but on the edge of the carriageway, near a grass verge, and that Mr Bryan had not tried to move around the bicycle.

In one message found on Mr Bryan’s phone on the way back from Cheshire, he told a friend he was hungover from the night before and was “concerned about being late for his parents with their shopping”.

In another sent by Mr Bryan to a female friend while he was at the birthday party the previous night, he told her: “I’m so drunk I can’t see.”

Defence barrister Sophia Dower claimed that Mr Bryan was in a “fit and proper state” to drive and was not using his phone at the time of the crash.

She claimed that Mr Jackson’s bike had veered right from the edge of the road into the path of Mr Bryan’s black Porsche, and that her client “didn’t have enough time to react”.

The off-duty doctor who was at the scene said Mr Jackson had suffered a serious head injury and his helmet was broken.

Mr Bryan will be sentenced on October 21.

Jackson family statement

The Jackson family issued the following statement yesterday after the verdict:

“The outcome from today doesn’t change anything for us; we are still learning to live with the gaping hole in our lives left by Andrew.

“However, it is important we were here to represent Andrew, to get justice for him and to show just how much he is still loved and missed.

“We all deserve to feel safe on our roads and to make it home to our loved ones.

“We respectfully ask for time and space for our family to process the events of this week as we continue to grieve for our husband, father, son and friend.”

A 45-year-old man has pleaded guilty to setting fire to a Knaresborough pub last year.

Stephen Pearson, of Pinhoe Road in Exeter, was charged with arson at Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.

He pleaded guilty when he appeared before York Crown Court this morning.

Pearson’s defence counsel told the court that he had “a number of difficulties” over the years and was currently seeing a clinical psychologist on a regular basis.

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The defence requested that the case be adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned sentencing Pearson until November 18.

He told him that he must “realise the consequences that may follow” when he appears before court again.

Blind Jack’s on Market Place, Knaresborough.

The pub was damaged in the blaze at around 4am on the morning of August 21, 2021.

Owners Christian and Alice Ogley were away at the time of the fire and nobody was injured.

The Grade II listed pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the Industrial Revolution.

A 45-year-old man will appear before York Crown Court this week charged with arson at a pub in Knaresborough.

Stephen John Pearson, of Nutwell Court Road in Lympstone, Devon, is charged with committing arson that damaged Blind Jack’s pub on Market Place in the town on August 21 last year.

He appeared before York Magistrates Court on August 25 for the alleged offence, when the case was referred to York Crown Court.

Mr Pearson is due to appear before the crown court on Friday.

The Grade II pub is named after Knaresborough’s John Metcalf, the first professional road builder to emerge in the Industrial Revolution.

Blind Jack’s on Market Place, Knaresborough.

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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.

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At a previous hearing, Wade-Smith had contested the parameters of a proposed restraining order to keep him away from his former partner because he was worried that the exclusion zone would prevent him going to Waitrose, the upmarket superstore. 

Ms Morrison said the former couple had been in a relationship for about 22 years, but in 2021 Wade-Smith’s behaviour changed after he started drinking following seven years of abstinence.

He would “disturb (his wife’s) sleep”, waking her in the middle of the night and demanding she “answer questions” about her so-called “secret lives” and their sex life.

Wade-Smith also demanded on “multiple occasions, in the middle of the night”, that she leave the house.

He would shout at her on “multiple occasions” in the street. She became so frightened she began “spending large amounts of time overnight sitting on her doorstep or wandering the streets”.

Fearing for her safety

In November last year, she started receiving nasty messages on a “daily basis” from Wade-Smith, who made further groundless accusations about her.

On one occasion inside the house, he told her: “If you don’t go now, I’ll kick you down the stairs.”

Fearing for her safety and worried she would be physically attacked, the former partner called police. 

Wade-Smith was arrested and bailed on the proviso that he didn’t contact her or go to her address.

But the ex-lawyer, who had worked for a number of legal firms in Yorkshire before latterly being self-employed, allegedly sent her more messages while on bail, culminating in the car-ramming incident on December 26.

Following his arrest for that incident, Wade-Smith gave police a prepared statement in which he admitted that the relationship was “not good” but initially denied that the messages and his behaviour were threatening.

In a victim statement read out in court, the former partner said Wade-Smith’s behaviour had left her with health problems and had affected her “financially and psychologically”.

She said she was trying to sell the house of which Wade-Smith had joint ownership and there had been contact between their respective solicitors.

She said that at this stage in her life she he hadn’t expected to be in “this insecure position” and been put under pressure to sell the high-market-value house which needed considerable repair.

Defence barrister Alasdair Campbell said that Wade-Smith had severe mental health problems at the time of the offences and became bipolar in middle age. 

A doctor’s report confirmed he had been suffering from psychosis and “hypermania”, which had been exacerbated by alcohol and “led to a very unpredictable life for both of them”.

Mr Campbell added:

“Because of his previous life (as a solicitor) he clearly has intelligence (and) he has remorse.”

‘A tragic case’

Wade-Smith, a keen cyclist, was currently homeless after spending nine months on custodial remand awaiting sentence.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Wade-Smith: 

“This is as tragic case – tragic for you, but especially tragic for your wife.

“You (were) a man of good character and you were a successful solicitor who worked extremely hard in a high-powered position, but unbeknown to you, you became bipolar.

“Your wife recognised that there was obviously something wrong with you and you acted as a completely different person to the man she used to know and love.

“At the time of these awful experiences for your wife, you were suffering with episodes of mania and psychosis, not helped by the fact that you tried to self-medicate with alcohol.

“You became delusional and acted in a way you would not have acted had you not been affected with this problem.”

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”.

Restraining order

Wade-Smith was also made subject to a restraining order, for an indefinite period, which prohibits him contacting his wife or going near her home in Slingsby Walk. 

The initial map proposed by the prosecution asked for Wade-Smith to be banned from going within 500 metres of his former partner’s house in Slingsby Walk, but Wade-Smith asked for the radius to be halved so he could go to Waitrose.

The judge said that the definitive map would be redrawn if the victim wished to alter it. 

Wade-Smith also received a 17-month motoring ban for drink-driving. 

The Probation Service said that Wade-Smith would be treated as a “priority” case for emergency housing and that the local authority would find him homeless accommodation in Harrogate. 

A notorious thug has been jailed for biting a police officer following a disturbance in Harrogate town centre.

Adam Snowdon, 31, was arrested following a drunken incident in Parliament Street and brought into Harrogate Police Station, where he bit one officer and allegedly assaulted two others.

He was charged with affray and assaulting three police officers. 

He initially denied all allegations but admitted affray on the day of trial. 

Snowdon, of Lupton Close, Glasshouses, was tried by a jury on three allegations of assaulting a police officer.

At York Crown Court yesterday (Monday, September 12), he was found guilty of one count of assaulting a policeman but not guilty of attacking the two others.

The substantive charge on which he was found guilty was biting a named officer at the police station on Beckwith Head Road on May 1. 

Prosecutor Ben Whittingham said that Snowdon was on a community order at the time for previous offences, including violence against police officers. 

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Defence barrister Allan Armbrister said Snowdon was “very much a loner” who desperately needed help after years of mental-health issues. 

He said Snowdon had not yet received that professional help and would now “lose that chance” due to the inevitable jail sentence for his “awful behaviour” in the town centre in May.

He added that Snowdon had recently become a father but any hopes of family life were now “completely lost” because his now-ex partner didn’t want “anything more to do with him”.

Snowdon, who was no stranger to prison, had been diagnosed with behavioural problems as a child.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said he had “taken a chance” with Snowdon when he gave him a community order earlier this year, but jail was now the only option because of his “bad” record for violence.

He said although Snowdon didn’t start the violence in the town centre, it was a “prolonged incident thereafter, on a busy street where people are fed up with…drunken violence”. 

Jailing Snowdon for 19 months, the judge said he would reserve all future cases involving the Harrogate man to himself and would “come down on you like a tonne of bricks if you cause trouble in North Yorkshire’s towns and cities”.

Snowdon will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence.

A Vietnamese teenager has denied being concerned in the production of Class B drugs after police discovered a cannabis farm in Harlow Hill, Harrogate.

Manh Nguyen, 18, of no fixed address, appeared at York Crown Court today (Monday, September 5) when his case was adjourned for a trial in January next year.

Mr Nguyen was arrested after police raided a property in West Lea Avenue, in the Harlow Hill area, last month.

It’s understood that during a search of the property, they found about 500 cannabis plants and other items linked to drug production.

Mr Nguyen was charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug but denied the allegation when he appeared in court via video link today, aided by a Vietnamese interpreter.

Judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case for a trial starting on January 25 next year. A further case-management hearing will be heard on November 11 this year.

Mr Nguyen was remanded in custody until that date.

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A cocaine dealer who “peddled misery” in Harrogate has been jailed for nearly three years after being snared by an undercover cop posing as a drug addict.

Jack Milner, 25, bragged to the officer that he was “making a good wage” from his trade but he was being played from the outset, York Crown Court heard.

Milner supplied cocaine to the plain-clothed officer on three separate occasions in December 2019, said prosecutor David Povall.

Mr Povall added:

“The officer was part of a wider operation focusing on county lines (drug networks) and it appears the defendant has crossed their sights.”

He said although Milner wasn’t involved “in that level of criminality”, he was working with others to supply the Class A drug.

The undercover officer, who used a pseudonym, was introduced to Milner on December 9 when he was supplied with cocaine. 

The following day, the officer called Milner to arrange another deal and he was “again supplied with (cocaine)”.

On the third day, the officer rang the same number and spoke to a different man who supplied him some wraps of heroin and cocaine.

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The court heard that Milner only supplied cocaine and was not involved in the dealing of heroin. However, the officer later saw Milner with this “second man…giving him permission to supply the officer with a further wrap”.

Milner, of Harehills Lane, Leeds, was duly arrested and found with a “burner” phone – a cheap, pre-paid mobile which criminals often use to evade detection.

He initially denied any involvement in Class A drug-dealing and maintained his innocence until the day of trial in June, when he finally admitted supplying cocaine.

Living on the streets

Nick Cartmell, mitigating, said Milner was living on the streets with his girlfriend at the time and had pneumonia. 

He said although Milner clearly made a “quite significant” financial gain, it was simply to buy his “next McDonald’s (meal)…and not going hungry”.

Mr Cartmell added:

“He was a fool and he has a penalty to pay.

“The defendant appears to have been operating a telephone number for the supply of drugs with others and been directly involved in handing them over to addicts.”

He said that Milner stood to make a “significant financial gain” although the amount was unknown.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, told Milner: 

“You were peddling misery on the streets and…that is very serious.

“You said to the undercover officer that you were being paid a good wage for what you were doing. In my book, peddling Class A drugs is so serious that there has to be an immediate prison sentence because there has to be a recognition of deterrence for others. 

“You were out and about distributing this filth on the streets. Who know how many lives you wrecked?”

Milner was jailed for two years and nine months. He will serve half of that sentence behind bars before being released on prison licence. 

A woman who headbutted a nightclub manager, busting her nose open, has been spared jail.

Jodie Milburn, 19, butted the victim with such force that blood “soaked” the wall outside the Viper Rooms in Harrogate town centre, prosecutor Eleanor Durdy told York Crown Court.

CCTV captured the moment Milburn repeatedly slapped the named woman, who was assistant manager at the popular nightclub, situated in the Grade II-listed Royal Baths building in Parliament Street.

With her arms restrained, Milburn, of Mayfield Grove, Harrogate, then head-butted the victim who was bleeding profusely.

Ms Durdy described the drunken attack, on August 15 last year, as “prolonged and persistent”.

A witness said there was “lots of blood, so much so that the blue wall was soaked in it”.

The victim’s clothes were also covered in blood and she was said to be “stunned”.

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Milburn set upon the manager after what she claimed was an incident inside the club involving a man and one of her family members, but this “wasn’t supported by the evidence”, the court heard. 

It was initially suspected that the victim’s nose was broken but this didn’t prove to be the case. 

Milburn was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm but denied the offence. 

A jury found her guilty following a trial earlier this month.

She appeared for sentence yesterday when her barrister Andrew Stranex said that an immediate jail sentence would scupper her hopes of working abroad.

He said she had a troubled upbringing but had done well at college, had good references from her employer and had a new job lined up overseas.

‘Disgraceful piece of behaviour’

Judge Simon Hickey described the attack as a “disgraceful piece of behaviour”.

He told Milburn: 

“What you did…was throw your head back when (the victim) was simply doing her public duty…and head-butted her on her nose. 

“She reeled backwards and blood poured out of her nose and onto her clothing. A witness said (the victim) was stunned and remained stunned for quite some time. It was a nasty injury (and) you were clearly in drink.”

However, Mr Hickey said the incident was “clearly out of character” and Milburn had “strong personal mitigation” including good character reports.

The judge said that for those reasons, he would not be locking her up and preventing her taking up her new job abroad.

Instead, Milburn was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay the victim £1,000 compensation “for the hurt and the pain” caused to her.

A “bullying” chef who shot his baker in the face, blinding him in the eye, has been jailed for more than two years.

Brad Tristan Plummer, 25, fired the gas-powered ball-bearing gun at Aidan Corbyn at their workplace, the Nelson Inn on the A59 near Harrogate.

The metal ball bearing lodged in Mr Corbyn’s left eye and he was taken to hospital for an operation to remove the bullet, but his loss of vision would be for life, York Crown Court heard.

Plummer admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm but denied possessing a firearm with intent to cause Mr Corbyn fear of violence during the incident, which a judge described as “dreadful”.

In July, a jury found him not guilty of the second count, but he was remanded in custody to await sentence for GBH.

Prosecutor Howard Shaw said Mr Corbyn was busy at work in the kitchen when Plummer walked in and announced in a “bragging” way that he had an air pistol.

Plummer started pointing the pistol at Mr Corbyn’s face, “pretending to shoot him”.

‘Laughing and joking’

At that stage, it appeared that Plummer had the safety catch on, but Mr Corbyn was so worried he tried to get away from him. However, his boss followed him, “laughing and joking and pointing the gun at Mr Corbyn”.

Things turned uglier when Plummer “rested” the pistol on Mr Corbyn’s face for about five seconds and then pointed it at him “from a distance of about one metre”. Mr Shaw said:

“He pointed the gun straight at his face [and] the air pistol discharged.

“Aidan Corbyn was shot in his left eye, the ball bearing lodging in his eye, effectively blinding him.”

He said Mr Corbyn was “scared” of Plummer, who was one of four bosses at the pub.

Mr Corbyn, who was 18 at the time, said he was “miserable” at work due to Plummer’s bullying behaviour towards him and that he made several job applications because he wanted to leave the pub business.

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A waitress who witnessed the incident, which occurred at about noon on September 29, 2020, said she saw Plummer “pointing the gun” at Mr Corbyn and resting it on his forehead for “five to 10 seconds”.

Plummer, who lived at the pub on Skipton Road, was arrested and told police he thought the air pistol wasn’t loaded when he shot Mr Corbyn. The prosecution accepted he would not have known there was a ball bearing inside the gun chamber.

‘Grave and permanent’ injury

At the sentence hearing yesterday, Mr Shaw said Plummer had been “bullying” the victim and shot him from a distance of a few feet. He added:

“This has resulted in the loss of stereoscopic vision and inevitably affects his ability to judge distance.”

“The injury sustained is particularly grave, permanent and irreversible (and will) have a substantial, lifelong effect on [Mr Corbyn’s] ability to carry out his normal, day-to-day activities and which may impact on his work ability.”

Mr Shaw said that in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting, Plummer had “abused his position of power over the victim” by bullying Mr Corbyn and it was also alleged that he had assaulted him, causing bruising to his arm. However, Plummer was never charged with any prior assault.

Mr Corbyn, described as a “very gentle character”, said the incident had had a massive effect on his life. He added:

“I thought I had managed to come to terms with what happened, but recent confirmation from a doctor that the sight (in my left eye) would not return was devastating.”

He had suffered from depression and nightmares about the shooting and had lost all his confidence. He now had difficulties even with cooking, reading and crossing the road, and he was still having regular hospital appointments to check his eye condition.

He said he now “walked into things regularly” and had to abandon plans to take up driving lessons. He still suffered from a “pulsing” eye ache.

Heavy drinking

Mr Corbyn, who has since moved to Leeds to take up a university course, said the entire aftermath of the incident had been “very traumatic” and at one stage he had lapsed into heavy drinking to cope.

His GP had recently prescribed him anti-depressants and his family had also been badly affected. He now only saw blackness with his left eye.

Defence barrister Deborah Graham said Plummer was otherwise a hard-working family man of hitherto “exemplary good character” who had shown “clear” remorse.

Judge Simon Hickey said the “dreadful” incident had resulted in a “grave” injury and a “life-changing” effect on Mr Corbyn, “in that he’s now blinded in his left eye” and faced annual medical checks.

He said Plummer had abused his position of “leadership and power” at the pub by “bullying and intimidating this young man” in the days and weeks before the incident. He told the disgraced chef:

“Not only was he physically slighter than you but he was much younger and a very gentle character, easily intimidated, and [during the trial] he pointed out this game that was played, not in a jovial way… but in a more unpleasant and nasty way which resulted in some injuries.”

Plummer was jailed for two-and-a-half years, of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence.

The judge banned him from keeping firearms for five years and ordered the destruction of the ball-bearing gun, as well as two air rifles and ammunition which Plummer had also kept on the premises.