David Ballantyne Smith, during his meeting with ‘Irina’ (Met Police/PA)
(Picture: PA Media)A security guard at the British embassy in Berlin was a paid spy under the control of a Russian agent who leaked secrets to damage UK interests, a judge has ruled.
David Ballantyne Smith, 58, has admitted eight breaches of the Official Secrets Act while working at the embassy in Germany, copying sensitive files, photos, and details of British personnel.
But he attempted to minimise his offending, suggesting he had only wanted to “embarrass” his embassy colleagues over security lapses, had no firm contact with Russia, and collected material “on a whim” while drunk.
Ruling on the case at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Wall concluded Smith had told a string of lies in his evidence and was, in fact, a “dedicated” spy on the Russian payroll.
“He had an ongoing relationship with someone at the Russian embassy, he didn’t just supply information to the Russians on two isolated occasions, and he was paid for his treachery”, the judge said.
“He was motivated by an antipathy towards this country, and intended to damage this country’s interests by acting as he did.”
Scottish-born Smith, a former RAF serviceman, is due to be sentenced on Friday for his spying activities between 2018 and 2021.
The court has heard how Smith amassed a wealth of sensitive information through his security role at the embassy in 2018 and 2019, including photos of personal details of staff working on Russian affairs.
In November 2020, a letter was intercepted from Smith to a Russian General, in which he said he was providing an “update” with sensitive staff information.
Smith admitted he had sent an earlier letter to the Russian embassy, but insisted in his evidence that was the extent of the contact and it was information he believed the Russians would already know.
In his ruling, the judge said parts of Smith’s evidence had been “incredible” and untrue.
“He was deliberately downplaying the intentions of his efforts, to make the offending seem less serious than it was”, he said.
Smith claimed to have no interest in world politics, despite his wife living in Eastern Ukraine at the time that Russian troops were amassing on the border in 2021.
“The defendant was endeavouring to lead me to believe he is a politically naïve soul”, said the judge, calling it a “tactic employed to deceive”.
“I am sure that the relationship was in place from some time in 2020. I am also sure that in the period 2018 – 2019 the defendant was collecting material from the embassy with a view to passing it on at some stage: no other explanation makes any sense.”
The judge said he could not be sure that intelligence collected by Smith prior to the first known contact with Russia in 2020 was “done under direction”.
But he concluded Smith must have eventually been working under the control of a Russian spymaster.
Smith also claimed that eight 100 euro notes found at his flat in Potsdam after his arrest, together with a picture of five 100 euro notes in an envelope, were the profits of him selling military uniforms and artefacts at a Berlin flea market.
“Given my finding that he was providing information to the Russians at that time, it is safe to conclude that this conduct would have provided him with that income stream”, said the judge.
Smith was snared thanks to an undercover operation in August 2021, when first an agent posing as a Russian spy called Dimitri was sent into the British embassy in Berlin.
Smith was asked to make copies of documents and made a spare set for himself, and he also kept hold of SIM card packaging he had been told to destroy.
Later, Smith was met by another undercover operative pretending to be a Russian agent called Irina, and when he asked to perform a task he told her he must “check with someone”.
“He could only have been referring to checking with someone at the Russian Embassy to verify that she was genuine before he helped her”, said the judge.
Smith is set to be sentenced on Friday morning.
