A former tool-maker from Shropshire who lived in a ‘Walter Mitty’ world of lies has been jailed for 42 months after secretly poisoning his wife with laxatives for three years.
David Smith, 62, told his wife Elizabeth he was a former SAS hero who took part in the Iranian embassy siege and owned a factory making top-secret MoD components. In reality, none of it was true.
Elizabeth Smith, a beauty therapist from Ayr, suffered severe illness including exhaustion, fainting and bedridden spells. Doctors even suspected early-stage motor neurone disease.
She discovered the truth when she found money missing from her account. Smith staged a fake burglary but was caught by police. He pleaded guilty to culpable and reckless conduct at Ayr Sheriff Court last month.
Sheriff John Montgomery described Smith's actions as a 'prolonged and evil course of criminal conduct'. Elizabeth said her former husband had taken five years of her life and was a 'very, very dangerous man'.
