A British Embassy Guard Who Spied For Russia Will Go To Prison.

When he is sentenced on Friday, a former security guard at the British embassy in Berlin who admitted to spying for Moscow faces up to 14 years in jail.

In a sting operation, David Ballantyne Smith, 58, was apprehended after he confessed to sending sensitive information to the Russian consulate in Germany.

Smith had a “ongoing contact” with Moscow, according to Judge Mark Wall, who said he would sentence Smith based on the notion that Smith had been “compensated for his treason.”

In the Old Bailey Court in the heart of London, the sentence hearing begins at 1000 GMT.

The court rejected Smith’s assertions that he had only twice sent material to Moscow in an effort to “embarrass” the UK.

The court also said that Smith “was driven by his hatred of this nation and meant to harm this country’s interests by behaving as he did.”

The five-year veteran employee of the Berlin embassy was originally from Paisley in western Scotland.

Smith allegedly wrote to the Russian embassy for the first time in 2020, providing information on the British diplomatic workers and urging future communication.

When the German and English authorities learned about this, they plotted to capture Smith in the act.

• False spies

Smith was informed that a Dmitry, a Russian national who was really a UK spy, wanted to go to the British embassy to provide vital information.

Smith then grabbed packaging from a phone SIM card that was provided to him and recorded CCTV video of “Dmitry” entering the embassy.