Ex-serviceman turned traitor while consuming conspiracy theories

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Berlin spy David Ballantyne Smith was a lonely ex-serviceman who turned traitor while consuming online conspiracy theories and pro-Putin propaganda.

Born in Paisley in Scotland, the 58-year-old spent 12 years in the RAF before moving to Crawley in West Sussex and getting jobs at Gatwick Airport.

He has a grown-up daughter by an earlier relationship and had been married to his second wife Svetlana for 20 years, the Old Bailey was told.

Smith told the court he was a patriotic Scot and had been proud to serve his country before his life went “downhill” after getting a job at the British Embassy in Berlin as a security guard.

He claimed he turned to drink and became depressed and lonely after his Ukrainian wife went back to the war-torn eastern region in her home country.

He expressed an interest in online conspiracy theories, saying: “I look at David Icke and Alex Jones’ InfoWars to get an alternative view. I just like both sides of the story.”

Smith said he had been a supporter of Russian-backed Donbas separatists but said he changed his mind and became “neutral” after visiting cemeteries and seeing lines of freshly dug graves in 2019.

A life-long collector of military memorabilia, Smith’s support for Russia appeared to be on prominent show in his home in Potsdam.

His living room was stuffed with Russian books and ornaments including a Russian Federation flag, Soviet military hat and a life-sized cuddly Russian toy Rottweiler and Communist toy Lada car.

Inside his work locker was a cartoon of Russian president Vladimir Putin with his hands around former German chancellor Angela Merkel in Nazi uniform espousing the false rhetoric used to invade Ukraine.

After his arrest, Smith continued to collect military memorabilia while at Belmarsh prison in the form of merchandise relating to the controversial Azov Battalion, forcing him to deny far-right sympathies.

The court heard Smith had 800 euro at his flat on his arrest and had stopped withdrawing money from his bank, betraying his alternative income from Russia.

Giving evidence, Smith claimed he only wanted to give his employer “a slap” for the way he had been treated, saying his depression worsened during the Covid lockdown.

He said: “I was angry that everyone was sitting at home with full pay when we were having to go to work every day.

“I just went downhill after that. I would fly off the handle at the slightest thing.

“Call that spoiled child, obstinate prat maybe – I was full of my own self-importance. I wanted to teach the embassy a lesson.”

Asked repeatedly to prove his remorse and name his Russian handler, Smith said: “There is no-one. There is no-one. There is no-one.”

Mr Justice Wall dismissed Smith’s attempts to explain away and minimise his activities, saying he was not a witness “of truth”.

The judge said: “He was paid for his treachery and he was motivated by his antipathy towards this country and intended to damage this country’s interests by acting as he did.”

He said the only reason why Smith did not resign from the embassy job he hated was so he could continuing feeding Russia its secrets.