LONDON—A security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin who spied for Russia has been jailed for 13 years and two months by a judge who said his actions were, “intended to damage British interests.”
David Ballantyne Smith, who formerly served in the Royal Air Force, pleaded guilty in November to eight counts of breaching the Official Secrets Act by “committing an act prejudicial to the safety or interests of the state.”
But a three-day hearing was held at the Old Bailey in central London this week to clarify on what basis Smith, 58, would be sentenced.
The prosecution claimed he was motivated by hatred for Britain and Germany and sympathy for Russia, but Smith insisted he was just acting out of spite because of a grudge over the way he had been treated by the embassy….