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A British embassy security guard caught passing secrets to Russia has been jailed for more than 13 years.
Berlin spy David Smith, 58, had an ‘ongoing relationship’ with Moscow and was paid for his ‘treachery’, the Old Bailey heard.
The Scot gathered secret documents and passed them on to Russian authorities while working as a security guard at the British embassy in Germany.
He was caught following an undercover operation in 2021 and has admitted eight charges under the Official Secrets Act.
In a televised sentencing, Mr Justice Wall said Smith had developed ‘decidedly anti-British’ feelings and gave the impression to colleagues he was ‘more sympathetic to Russia, in particular president Putin’.
He said Smith’s ‘subversive activities’ dated back to 2018 and he had copied a ‘significant amount of material’ over the years.
The senior judge told Smith that he was ‘fully aware that you should not have copied any of these documents and equally aware were these documents to get into the wrong hands, they might harm British interests or pose a threat to those working at the British Embassy’.
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