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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Duncan Gardham

British guard sentenced to 13 years for spying for Russia at UK embassy in Berlin

David Smith, photographed covertly during a meeting with an undercover agent.
David Smith, photographed covertly during a meeting with an undercover agent. Photograph: Metropolitan police/AFP/Getty Images

A British embassy security guard has been jailed for more than 13 years after a judge told him his “treachery” spying for Russia had put his former colleagues at “maximum risk”.

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, originally from Paisley, Scotland, copied secret documents he found in unlocked filing cabinets and on desks at the embassy, including a letter to the then prime minister, Boris Johnson.

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