BRITISH embassy guard spy David Smith has been jailed for 13 years after selling secrets to the Kremlin.
Smith, 58, was caught filming a man he thought was a Russian “traitor” in the Berlin embassy but his target was really a British spook.
A judge at the Old Bailey said Smith had copied "a significant amount" of material and was paid by Russian handlers.
Sentencing him to 13 years and two months in jail, the judge told David Ballantyne Smith "you were paid by Russia for your treachery", adding that his motive had been to "damage British interests".
He was caught after an MI5 sting operation in 2021.
Cops found a copy of a letter to the Prime Minister from two senior government ministers.
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Smith had also passed on details of workers’ identities and activities.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said he had “an extreme hatred of where he works and the United Kingdom in general”.
Scot Smith, from Paisley, claimed he had mental health issues and just wanted to embarrass the embassy.
Smith pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Official Secrets Act, including one charge relating to passing information to Russian Military General Major Sergey Chukhrov attached to Berlin, in November 2020.
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The seven other charges involved collecting information, which might have been useful to Russia.
Four of which related to an MI5 officer posing as "Dmitry", a Russian national who was supposedly providing assistance to Britain.
During sentencing, judge Mark Wall said: "Your mitigation lies solely in your previous good character.
"The credit for that must be limited, as the offending here was so extensive and so serious.
"Your regrets are no more than self pity."
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