David Balladin Smith, 58, was caught in a sting operation and arrested by German police near his home in Potsdam on August 10 last year. Smith, originally from Paisley near Glasgow, passed secrets to the Russian military attaché, including details of the activities, identities, addresses and telephone numbers of various members of the embassy. Russians ‘drown’ in chaotic retreat from Kherson – Ukraine live updates The information was said to be intended to be useful to an enemy, namely the Russian state. In conversations, he is said to have declared that he hated the UK and Germany and expressed his anger at flying the rainbow flag in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Police found €800 in cash in his flat, which could not be traced, and emails and documents marked “confidential”, apparently prepared to pass to the Russians. Smith was eventually arrested after he made contact with someone he believed to be working for the Russian military intelligence agency, the GRU. At the Old Bailey on 4 November, Smith pleaded guilty to eight of nine charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and 1920. The filing restrictions were lifted Friday when prosecutors decided not to pursue the remaining charge. That will do. I’ll get the rest tomorrow” Smith worked at the embassy in Berlin as a guard for about eight years. According to the charges against him, Smith contacted General Sergei Chukhurov, the Russian military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Berlin, between October 31 and December 1, 2020. A letter was sent containing a number of documents and images with security clearances from the British Embassy in Berlin. It had been posted near Smith’s home address, and handwriting analysis later concluded that there was strong support that Smith had written the address and envelope. Between 31 October 2020 and 10 August last year, he collected material classified as “secret”, relating to the operation and layout of the British Embassy in Berlin and the embassy’s activities. On August 5 last year, he was caught on hidden CCTV in the embassy’s security booth, looking into the CCTV system and filming images of a man referred to as ‘Dimitri’. At 8.45pm, the equipment caught him saying to himself: “It’ll do. I’ll get the rest tomorrow.” Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:48 UK ‘too deep’ in Ukraine war – Russian envoy The Colonel “might be able to use it.” He returned the next day when he was again caught on hidden CCTV filming specific parts of the embassy system, again catching Dmitri on film. On the same day, he shared information “in person” about building repairs at the embassy. On August 9, Smith was contacted by a person believed to be a member of the GRU and provided information about the embassy. Smith left work early on August 10 after complaining of feeling unwell and, when he arrived home in Potsdam, was arrested by German police. Smith’s home address was searched and various electronic devices containing the CCTV footage Mr Smith had been seen filming on August 5 and 6 were seized. There was also a draft letter to Colonel Sivov, a former Russian military attaché, dated May 14, 2020, in which Smith said he worked at the embassy and wished to remain anonymous. He offered to provide a book from the defense department classified as “officially sensitive”, saying the colonel “might be able to use it”. Police found a video of a walk around the building, images of security equipment, photos of security cards for embassy staff and personal information about employees. Read more: British spies play key role in Ukraine defense What’s the tactical situation in Ukraine? Inside school turned into Russian base Posters, boards and employee contact information Smith had also collected images of posters and boards in the embassy, including organizational charts and contact details of employees, as well as information about the departments in which they worked. There were also emails and other documentation, marked confidential. Police also found a copy of the documentation Smith had been asked to photocopy and the SIM card packaging he had asked Dmitri to discard. Investigators found that Smith was living beyond his means and regularly overdrawn but, during a search of the home, eight €100 notes were found that could not be accounted for by transaction history in Smith’s bank account. “It can be inferred that the money came from another source,” prosecutors said. Smith had no ‘negative intent against the UK’ Matthew Ryder QC, defending, told the hearing on November 4 that there was “a very wide difference between the Crown and Mr Smith about the motive, the intent and why he did what he did”. “The seriousness of the allegations is disputed by Mr Smith,” he added, telling the court that Smith had no “negative intent against the UK”, he said. It is understood that he claims he acted because he had a disagreement with embassy staff. Alastair Richardson, prosecuting, told the court: “The distance between the parties is very serious indeed. It is no admission of the extent of the criminality alleged by the Crown.” A lengthy hearing for Newton is now likely to take place in February to determine his sentence.
