Aristocrat trashed his own £1m home to spite his ex-wife

An aristocrat is facing jail after wrecking his own £1 million home to spite his ex-wife.

Desmond Fitzgerald, the 63-year-old grandson of Major General Sir Allan Adair, the 6th Baronet Adair, caused damage costing more than £21,000 at the Kings Cross terraced house.

See also: Wife sells house behind cheating husband's back

See also: Husband sells off all of cheating wife's possessions

He ripped out radiators and smashed pictures and ornaments with a hammer, as well as blocking a sink in order to flood the house he'd shared with his ex-wife, lawyer Catherine Akester.

According to the Evening Standard, he tried to claim he had been framed, saying it was a plot like something from a James Bond film, and criticising the judge, the prosecution and the police.

Representing himself at trial, he also confusingly compared himself with Theresa May in a long and rambling defence.

Mr Fitzgerald's home is pictured here, second from the right

However, fingerprints at the scene revealed that he was the culprit, and he's now been convicted of criminal damage and told that he'll be going to jail.

Fitzgerald had been trying to stop the sale of the house ever since his 15-year marriage broke down.

He set about destroying the Medburn Street home after storming out of a hearing in October when a judge ordered him to give up the keys and stay away from the house.

Ms Akester described the 'devastation' of the house and told the court she'd found a photo of herself and her siblings ripped up: "It had been torn into tiny, tiny shreds. I found that extremely hurtful," she said.

Fitzgerald says he's been staying with a friend in Islington since January and has contacted homeless charity Crisis for help.

Judge Davinder Gill has remanded him in custody before sentencing next month.

She has also ordered a psychiatric assessment after an assessment by the probation services found signs of 'emotional instability and risk-taking', and is considering a restraining order banning him from contacting his ex-wife.

It's not the first time Fitzgerald has fallen foul of the courts. Last year, as part of a legal dispute over land in Ireland he claims belongs to his aunt, he tried to have a law firm partner committed to prison.

A judge described his claims as a 'farrago of nonsense' and ordered him to pay costs of nearly £100,000.