Disgraced Yorkshire solicitor jailed for breaking restraining order against partner whose house he drove into

Richard Wade-Smith was given a 10-month prison sentence at York Crown Court today after breaching the terms of the order only four days after it was imposed.

On September 19, former ‘high-powered’ environmental lawyer Wade-Smith, 66, twice approached the home near Harrogate Stray that he had shared with his former partner and rang the bell before walking away.

He was homeless after being spared jail earlier that week, when he had pleaded guilty at the same court to harassment and criminal damage in relation to an incident when he had driven his Nissan Qashqai into the front door of the former marital home last Boxing Day.

The couple had been together for over 20 years, but in 2021 Wade-Smith began drinking heavily again and his behaviour became aggressive, erratic and unpredictable.

Wade-Smith’s lawyers argued that he suffers from psychosis and a serious alcohol dependency which has seen his successful career end up in ruins. He studied law at the University of Cambridge, where he rowed and played rugby, and later worked for a prestigious firm of solicitors in Bradford before setting up his own practice specialising in the fields of planning and environment law.

The restraining order bans him from a number of streets in Harrogate, and he originally challenged its scope because it would have prevented him from visiting the town’s Waitrose store.