Pro-Putin traitor jailed for selling British secrets to Russia after MI5 sting
A Pro-Putin spy was caught on CCTV recording footage on his mobile phone as he worked as a British Embassy security guard.
David Smith passed intelligence onto Russia and was today jailed for 13 years and two months after a judge said he was full of "self-pity".
The 58-year-old Scot "betrayed his country" by hoarding secret documents and selling them to Moscow while working as a security guard at the British Embassy in Germany.
In this CCTV clip he is seen at his desk in the embassy, and after checking the coast is clear, he is spotted whipping out his mobile to record something on his screen.
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”.
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The 58-year-old was caught in a sting by MI5 who used an agent provocateur named 'Irina' pretending to be a Russian intelligence officer.
David Smith is seen at his desk in the embassy filming the CCTV screenHe filmed personal details from within the embassy, causing "maximum risk" to his colleagues, the Old Bailey heard today.
But after MI5 spooks intercepted a letter Smith sent to a military attache at the Russian Embassy they launched an undercover sting to expose Smith's "treachery".
Smith said: "I'm disgusted with myself, at the time I didn't think about what I was doing but now I've had one and a half years, I'm disgusted with myself and ashamed of what I've done."
However, he has denied he was a spy, claiming: "I was an obstinate brat."
The judge told him had he been been truly remorseful, he would not have lied in his evidence.
David Smith wearing FC Dnipro jersey and posing for a photo with a knife and a beer (EAST2WEST NEWS)Smith told an earlier hearing at the Old Bailey that he was in a downward spiral of depression and alcohol after his wife, Svetlana, moved back to her home in Ukraine and Covid lockdown restrictions left him isolated.
He said he wanted to give his employers "a bit of a slap" because he felt undervalued and ignored.
He said: "I accept what I did. I was depressed, being alone all the time, my wife had gone back to Ukraine.
"I was angry at diplomats, there was a 'them and us' attitude at the embassy. There was bullying at certain points. I felt undervalued and angry."
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'Spy' David Smith under a Soviet tank wearing a T-shirt that reads 'Russia' (EAST2WEST NEWS)Matthew Ryder KC, defending, asked: "Did you intend to cause serious harm?"
Smith replied: "At no time I just wanted to give the Embassy a bit of a slap because I didn't think it was treating me well."
Father-of-one Smith - who served with the RAF for more than 12 years before working at Gatwick Airport - lived in Crawley, West Sussex, before moving to Germany with his second wife, Svetlana, in 2013.
He began working at the British embassy in 2016 but said he quickly became angry at the culture of "bullying" and the "us and them attitude" of diplomats.
Artists impression of David Smith appearing via video link at the Old Bailey (Julia Quenzler / SWNS)
David Smith was jailed for more than 13 years (PA)Smith told an earlier haring at the Old Bailey he previously supported the Ukrainian separatists in the disputed Donbas region of Ukraine.
But after visiting his wife there he saw "row upon row upon row" of freshly dug graves waiting for fallen soldiers from the frontline.
He said: "I thought, 'No-one should die for politics'."
Smith was so angry he started collecting documents to show lapses in security and to "embarrass" his colleagues.
Smith was so angry he started collecting documents to show lapses in security and to "embarrass" his colleagues.
During sentencing the 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”.
He began handing over documents in 2020 in a letter to a military attache at the Russian Embassy and promised “more information would be forthcoming”.
In a second letter he passed photographs of embassy staff with annotated descriptions, putting them at “maximum risk”, the judge said.
Mr Justice Wall during sentence (BBC News)Smith’s conduct from 2020 was not a “one-off offence” and he was “paid by Russia for your treachery”, the judge said.
The judge said: “You established regular contact with someone at the Russian Embassy and this contact was a conduit through which material illegally obtained by you was passed on.”
Mr Justice Wall said Smith gathered material with a view to harming British interests in breach of the trust in his role as a security guard.
He said: “It is self-evident this case demands an immediate prison sentence.”
“I assess your culpability as high. It was your job to ensure the embassy was secure and its staff was safe.”
The judge said it was impossible to assess the actual harm Smith had caused without knowing how much information was passed on to Russia.
A still from a covert camera during Russian spy David Smith's meeting with "Irina" (Metropolitan Police/AFP via Gett)He added: “In taking out of the embassy personal details of staff you put all of those staff at risk of harm.”
Mr Justice Wall rejected Smith’s claim of remorse, saying it was “self-pity”.
“When asked about the potentially catastrophic consequences for others, you said they were non-existent or negligible because you only provided to Russia information they already had.”
Had Smith been been truly remorseful, he would not have lied in his evidence, the judge said.
The embassy's head of security Bharat Joshi estimated the cost to the taxpayer of security measures at £820,000.
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