Ex-British embassy guard sentenced to 13 years in prison for spying for Russia


David Ballantyne Smith, 58, was sentenced in London on Friday to 13 years and two months in prison. sebra / stock.adobe.com

Caught in the act of transmitting sensitive documents, David Ballantyne Smith, 58, had pleaded guilty.

A former security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin was sentenced in London on Friday to 13 years and two months in prison for spying for Russia.

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, who had pleaded guilty, was caught in the act of transmitting sensitive documents to the Russian Embassy in Berlin. “You established regular contact with someone at the Russian Embassy and this contact allowed you to transmit documents that you had obtained illegallysaid Judge Mark Wall in explaining his decision. “You were paid by Russia for your betrayal“, he added.

“Antipathy to the United Kingdom”

When the verdict was announced, the former soldier, dressed in a sweater and blue jeans, appeared focused, his hands holding the helmet allowing him to clearly hear the judge’s decision. He had pleaded guilty to eight counts and admitted in particular to having violated the law on official secrecy.

During his trial, he justified his actions by the desire to “give the embassy a little slap in the facebecause he felt she was not treating him well, but Judge Mark Wall dismissed his arguments. “I have come to the conclusion that the defendant’s main motivation for acting as he did was that he felt antipathy towards the United Kingdom, and that he wanted to undermine the interests of this country by providing information to a state which, then as now, is considered unfriendly“, he said Thursday.

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Videos of sensitive places

This man, married to a Ukrainian who returned to live in the east of his country in 2018 and who worked at the British embassy in Berlin, had been spotted by the British and German authorities after sending a letter in 2020 containing the contact details of certain personnel. from the British Embassy to a member of the military staff at the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

He had also made several videos of sensitive places in the embassy building, and 800 euros of cash had been found at his home without him being able to explain in a credible way the origin, had underlined the prosecution. A trap, involving two false Russian agents, had been developed to catch him in the act and he had been arrested in August 2021. The prosecution had also pointed out that David Ballantyne Smith had “made anti-Western and anti-Nato remarks to other employees and affirmed his supportto Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Investigators had found Russian memorabilia at his apartment, including a life-size stuffed Rottweiler dog wearing a Russian military hat. A caricature of Vladimir Putin holding the head of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also found in his locker at his workplace.

Heard on Tuesday, the defendant, extradited in April 2022 to the United Kingdom, had assured that he wanted “teach the embassy a lesson“, but not having been paid for it. “Now that I’ve had a year and a half to look back, I disgust myself and I’m ashamed of what I’ve done“, he had declared.



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