A former security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for betraying his country and colleagues by passing secrets to Russia.
David Smith, former security guard at the British Embassy in Germany Support Vladimir Putin He was motivated by hatred of the United Kingdom when he began collecting classified documents in 2018. At the same time, he also claimed that he was motivated by depression.
The 58-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to eight counts under the Official Secrets Act. According to prosecutors, the man provided information about the activities, identities, addresses and telephone numbers of British civil servants to Major General Sergei Chuhorov, the Russian military attaché in Berlin.
Witnesses told the court that Smith’s actions could have “potentially catastrophic” consequences for every British official in Berlin, and that updating security measures would cost taxpayers an estimated €920,000.
According to the court, the embassy staff “felt anger, betrayal, resentment and anxiety that their data would be shared with an enemy country.”
The court rejected Smith’s claim that he only wanted to embarrass the embassy. The judge ruled that the evidence showed Smith had accepted money from Russia, which constituted an “ongoing relationship.”
The court found that Smith’s spying could have harmed Britain’s international trade negotiations and came at a time when the UK was “challenging” Russia, including by deploying troops to the Ukrainian border.
Smith – who told the court he was ashamed of his actions – was arrested by German police in August 2021 at his home in Potsdam, southwest of Berlin, and extradited to the UK in April.
