British embassy guard admits giving secrets to Russians in Berlin

Sketch of David Smith. A raid on his Berlin flat revealed photos he had taken of security passes and a walkthrough video of the embassy. Photograph: Elizabeth Cook/PA

A security guard who worked for the British embassy in Berlin has pleaded guilty to passing secret material to a Russian military attache in a rare espionage prosecution.

David Smith, 58, faces up to 14 years in jail after admitting to passing on information about the staff and layout of the British embassy – and other secret material between May 2020 and August the following year.