A security guard at the British embassy in Berlin received “substantial amounts of cash” from the Russians in return for “highly sensitive” secrets before he was caught in an undercover sting operation, a court has heard.
David Ballantyne Smith, 58, originally from Paisley, Scotland, spent three years collecting secret material and was paid hundreds of euros by the Russians, the Old Bailey was told.
Smith, who had worked as a security guard at the embassy since 2016, has pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and 1920.
The material that Smith collected included a letter to Boris Johnson, then the prime minister, from Liz Truss.
A sentencing hearing was told Smith had “strong anti-UK views which he expressed to others” and “also expressed pro-Russia and pro-Putin views.”
Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey that over a period of years, Smith collected “a range of highly sensitive information from and about the embassy with the intention of supplying it to the Russian Federation”.
“In return, the defendant received substantial amounts of cash, unexplained by any identified and legitimate source of income,” she said.
Undercover sting launched after letter intercepted
His actions were discovered when a letter was intercepted which Smith had sent to a member of the military staff at the Russian embassy in Berlin, containing a number of documents from the British embassy and images of staff working there.
As a result, an undercover sting operation was launched giving Smith the opportunity to obtain further sensitive information about an individual called Dmitry, who Smith believed was a Russian citizen, helping the United Kingdom.
“Plainly, such an individual would be of obvious interest to those that the defendant was in contact with within the Russian embassy,” Ms Morgan said.
‘Deliberate engagement’ with Russian authorities
Smith was arrested by the German police and searches revealed that over a period of years, he had been collecting a range of highly sensitive information from and about the embassy.
“Such deliberate engagement with the Russian authorities, by providing them with confidential and sensitive information, demonstrates a clear intention to prejudice the interests of the UK,” Ms Morgan said.
Smith’s spying was said to have begun on 9 March 2018 when he took the first of 59 live files and 10 deleted files, saving them on to a USB stick.
The files, discovered during searches after his arrest, included 29 pages of images including of staff from the British embassy in Berlin and photographs of diplomatic passports.
Material included ‘secret’ letter sent to Boris Johnson
Police later found a number of images taken in 2021, including a photograph of a whiteboard relating to staff deployments in Berlin, photographs of rooms inside the embassy and communications equipment.
The material included a letter classified as “secret” sent to Boris Johnson, then the prime minister, from Liz Truss, the then-secretary of state for international trade, and Alok Sharma, the then secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy on 23 November 2020.
Ms Morgan said the letter was one of the documents highlighted in the “harm” category for the judge.
Video of ‘extensive walk-around’ embassy
Police also discovered nine videos said to make up an “extensive walk-around video of the embassy”.
Mr Morgan said Smith “appears to have filmed the majority of the embassy” at times, filming out of windows, seemingly in order to locate where a room was, in relation to the street.
The prosecutor said that an absence of cash withdrawals meant Smith must have had an alternative source of cash and at the time of his arrest, he had 800 euros in cash.
“The prosecution relies on this evidence to demonstrate that the defendant was receiving cash by way of reward for his actions,” she said.
Actions intended to cause ’embarrassment’ to embassy
The court heard Smith claims that his actions were intended to cause “inconvenience and embarrassment” to the British Embassy, motivated by grievances with his employers and that he was suffering from mental health issues.
He denies receiving any payment for his actions but Ms Morgan said he had provided “no explanation as to why he chose to send material to the Russian Embassy in particular.”
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“The defendant had no legitimate reason for retaining any of this material. It is implausible to suggest that he only took possession of material within the context of a dispute with his employers or because he intended to expose security lapses,” Ms Morgan said.
Smith was employed as a security guard from 15 June 2016 with sensitive level security clearance.
He was married to a Ukrainian but told those he worked with his wife did not like living in Germany and had moved back to Ukraine.
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Smith was initially described as a “keen, polite and professional employee” but his behaviour changed, around the time of his wife’s return to Ukraine.
He was said to have expressed “anti-UK and anti-Germany” views and said he would never go back to Britain. His views about the war in Ukraine were described as “supportive of Russia”.
Embassy employees concerned about Smith’s mental health
From 2019 onwards, employees at the embassy were said to be concerned about Smith’s mental health.
He was approached by a mental welfare officer at the embassy and by the human resources manager in February 2020, to try and address his mental health concerns.
In 2021, following a report from a colleague concerned that Smith would commit suicide, a meeting was arranged to discuss an approach to the concerns.
Ms Morgan told the first day of a sentencing hearing that Smith “expressed views that were anti-West and anti-NATO to other employees and expressed support for Vladimir Putin.
“The defendant spoke a lot about Ukraine and discussed travelling there. He expressed views that were hostile towards the German government.”
