David Ballantyne Smith, a security guard at the British Embassy in Germany, has admitted to violating the Official Secrets Act after spending at least ten months spying on behalf of Russia.
Smith, 58, was discovered as part of an undercover operation and arrested by German police near his home in Potsdam in early August last year, according to Sky News television.
The security employee of the UK Embassy in Berlin had spent several months sending secret information to the Russian military attaché, including details of activities as well as private information about members of the Embassy.
In conversations intercepted by the police, and echoed by Sky News, Smith admitted hating the UK and Germany, and also showed his rejection of the authorities’ support for the LGBT community.
The police authorities discovered in his home several hundred euros, as well as e-mails and documents marked as «secret», which were apparently ready to be transferred to Russian representatives.
Smith, an employee of the Embassy for nearly eight years, is said to have contacted the Russian military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Berlin, Major General Sergei Chukhurov, between October 31 and December 1, 2020.
