Embassy security guard, 58, who sent details of British officials to Russia claims he should be treated as a ‘disgruntled employee’ rather than a spy

• David Smith, 58, sent details about British officials to a Russian military attaché 
• He also collected information ‘useful to Russian state’ when working in Berlin 
• It is claimed he was motivated by ‘extreme hatred of United Kingdom in general’
• Smith appeared at the Old Bailey today. He has pleaded guilty to eight offences

An embassy security guard who sent details of British officials to Russia claims he should be treated as a ‘disgruntled employee’ rather than a spy. 

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, sent details about British officials to a Russian military attaché and collected information ‘useful to the Russian state’ when he was working in Berlin.

The Scot was arrested at his home in Potsdam near Berlin in August 2021 and was extradited back to the UK from Germany in April 2022. 

He was motivated by ‘an extreme hatred of where he works and the United Kingdom in general,’ it is claimed.

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, sent details about British officials to a Russian military attaché and collected information ‘useful to the Russian state’ when he was working in Berlin

The Scot was arrested at his home in Potsdam near Berlin in August 2021 and was extradited back to the UK from Germany in April 2022 (pictured: Smith at the Old Bailey during a previous court appearance)

Smith appeared at the Old Bailey today wearing a blue jumper and claims he should be treated as a ‘disgruntled employee’ rather than a spy.

British security guard ‘who hated his country’ admits spying for Russia at UK’s embassy in Germany 

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, is said to have been driven by an intense hatred for his own country and wanted to live in Russia or Ukraine at the time he passed on secret intelligence to Moscow from May 2020 

He has pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1920, committed between May 2020 and August 2021.

The guard denied a ninth count of the same charge. 

The prosecution have decided not to try Smith on this final count.

Smith does not accept he wanted to undermine the state, as the prosecution claims.

Mr Justice Wall will hold a Newton hearing to decide on the truth of this on February 13 and he will likely be sentenced on February 17.

He said the hearing would make a ‘significant difference’ to the sentence he would pass.

According to guidelines, Smith could face up to 14 years in prison.

A joint investigation by German and British security services found that he had been selling information to Russia since 2020 after MI5 and their European counterparts trailed him for months.

Smith gathered information about the operation and layout of the Berlin British Embassy and collected material classified at or below ‘Secret’ over those 15 months.

Between October to December 2020, Smith communicated to General Major Sergey Chukhurov, the Russian military attaché based out of the Russian Embassy in Berlin, details about the activities, identities, addresses and telephone numbers of various British civil servants.

On August 5, 2021, the security guard made an unauthorised photocopy of embassy documents, kept SIM card packaging, and made video recordings of CCTV footage of a person known as ‘Dmitry’.

The following day, Smith made further recordings of CCTV footage of ‘Dmitry’.

However, he denied leaking information about embassy building repairs on August 6, 2021 which was alleged in the ninth charge against him.

He was motivated by ‘an extreme hatred of where he works and the United Kingdom in general,’ it is claimed (pictured: Smith being arrested by German police at his apartment in Potsdam on August 10)

Smith had Russian military memorabilia including a Russian flag and uniform cap

After pleading not guilty to that charge, Smith said: ‘And it was actually August 9 not the 6th.’

Prosecutors have decided not to pursue this charge and there will therefore be no trial in respect of it.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said, when Smith appeared at magistrates’ court: ‘He has expressed, I am told, an extreme hatred of where he works and the United Kingdom in general.

‘He has also expressed a desire to move to Ukraine or Russia.’

The UK government requested his extradition at the end of 2021 but Smith and his lawyer challenged the case.

The extradition request was granted by the state court of Brandenburg in April.

Smith, originally from Paisley, Scotland, admitted eight and denied one offence under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1920.

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