Kate Middleton's uncle is spared jail after punching wife in face despite judge branding him a 'nasty drunk'

The Duchess of Cambridge‘s uncle Gary Goldsmith will not go to jail, despite admitting striking his wife in the face and knocking her to the ground during a drunken argument.

A judge said Goldsmith, 52, acted “like a nasty drunk” and showed no immediate remorse, but he was today told he would not be sent to prison for punching Julie-Ann Goldsmith, with what was previously described as a powerful “left hook”.

Goldsmith was handed a 12-month community order and told to undergo 20 rehabilitation sessions to “challenge [his] attitude to this offence”.

He was also fined £5,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 and legal costs of £85.

An application for a restraining order on Goldsmith – who is the younger brother of Catherine’s mother Carole Middleton – was dropped by the CPS.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mrs Goldsmith said: “I am suffering with panic attacks, I am not going out, only to work, food shopping and to walk my dogs.

“I find it very hard to face people and I am a prisoner in my own home.”

Jane Humphryes, QC, defending Goldsmith, claimed the couple were both drunk after attending a charity event, and admitted her client was “bitterly ashamed” of the incident.

She said: “The defendant himself had been on one of his six-week charity diets with limited food and no alcohol.

“The defendant has no previous convictions – it is a single blow case with provocation as a result of a big argument.

“And the defendant accepted that he momentarily lost control when he struck out much to his guilt and shame.

“He is exceedingly remorseful – he is devastated by the events of the evening and all the more so that it involved his wife to whom he is devoted.”

Goldsmith was said to have used a “closed fist” to attack Julie-Ann outside their home in central London at around 1.20am on October 13 this year.

He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this month and pleaded guilty to one count of assault by beating.

Prosecutor Kate Shilton told the court Mrs Goldsmith fell down after her husband threw what was described by their taxi driver, Daniel Shepherd, as a “left hook”.

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