British embassy security guard denies spying for Russia

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A security guard at the British embassy in Berlin has denied passing secret information to Russia.

David Ballantyne Smith, 57, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he entered not guilty pleas to nine charges under the Official Secrets Act.

The British national, who was living in Potsdam, is accused of gathering information from the embassy and passing it to someone he believed was a representative of the Russian state, among other alleged offences between October 2020 and August 2021.

Court lists detailing the charges allege Mr Smith “attempted to communicate” by letter with “General Major Sergey Chukhurov, the Russian military attache based out of the Russian embassy, Berlin”.

The material “contained details about the activities, identities, addresses and telephone numbers of various members of Her Majesty’s Civil Service”, in breach of the Official Secrets Act.

In eight other charges, Mr Smith is accused of committing acts “prejudicial” to the safety and interest of the state by gathering information classified as “secret” about the “activities of Her Majesty’s government” and that he “collected material relating to the operation and layout of the British embassy in Berlin, and that information was calculated to be or might be or was intended to be directly or be indirectly useful to an enemy, namely the Russian state”.

He is also alleged to have made unauthorised photocopies of documents, video recordings of the embassy’s CCTV system and “kept sim card packaging which you had been asked to dispose of”.

Mr Smith communicated information about building repairs at the embassy after being “approached by a person you believed to be a member of Russian military intelligence (the GRU)”, the charges claim.

The security guard was arrested by German police on 10 August last year on suspicion of collecting information from the embassy with the intention of passing it to a foreign country.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it worked with the Metropolitan Police to build a prosecution case and authorised charges on 15 November after obtaining consent from the attorney general.

Mr Smith was extradited to the UK from Germany on Wednesday.

He appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning wearing a blue zipped jumper and blue jeans.

The defendant requested a hearing loop to follow court proceedings.

He spoke only to confirm his name, age, to say he no longer had an address, and to plead not guilty to all nine charges.

He was remanded in custody to reappear at the Old Bailey on 13 April.