LONDON — A former safety guard on the British embassy in Berlin has admitted spying for Russia and faces as much as 14 years in jail.
David Ballantyne Smith, 58, pleaded responsible to eight prices underneath the Official Secrets and techniques Act. Prosecutors say he gave Gen. Maj. Sergey Chukhurov, Russia’s army attache in Berlin, details about the actions, identities, addresses and cellphone numbers of British civil servants.
Smith additionally collected intelligence, a few of it classed secret, on the operation and structure of the embassy, which prosecutors mentioned can be helpful to “an enemy, specifically the Russian state.”
Smith admitted guilt throughout a listening to final week at London’s Central Prison Courtroom, however the pleas have been lined by reporting restrictions till Friday, when prosecutors dropped a ninth cost that Smith had denied.
Prosecutors say Smith was motivated by a hatred of Britain and its embassy, the place he had labored for eight years, and had expressed sympathy with Russian authorities. They declare he was offended that the embassy flew the rainbow flag in assist of the LGBTQ+ group.
Smith’s lawyer, Matthew Ryder, mentioned his shopper denied prosecutors’ description of “why he did what he did and the seriousness of the allegations.” He mentioned Smith didn’t have “a damaging intention in direction of the U.Okay.”
Smith was arrested by German police at his house in Potsdam, southwest of Berlin in August 2021 and extradited to the U.Okay. in April.
He can be sentenced at a later date and faces a most 14-year sentence.