Disgraced Yorkshire solicitor who harassed his ex is given more prison time for causing a public nuisance

Former environmental lawyer Richard Wade-Smith, 66, was given a 10-month custodial sentence last December for breaching the terms of a restraining order only four days after it was imposed.

The Cambridge-educated solicitor’s criminal behaviour began following long-term issues with alcohol dependency. In September 2022, he pleaded guilty to harassment and criminal damage in relation to an incident the previous Boxing Day, when he drove his Nissan Qashqai into the front door of the house near Harrogate Stray he had shared with his long-term partner.

On that occasion he was spared jail by York Crown Court, but soon after, he approached the same property and rang the bell before walking away, thus breaking the conditions of the order that banned contact with his victim.

Wade-Smith appeared before York magistrates this week, and pleaded guilty to causing an intentional public nuisance on Stockwell Lane in Knaresborough between May 7-10. He is now believed to be homeless.

He was given a further four-week prison sentence and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £140 victim surcharge.

He worked for a large firm of solicitors in Bradford before setting up his own practice specialising in planning law.

The restraining order banned 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. His defence team argued that he had been suffering from psychosis.