David Smith
(Picture: COLLECT)A suspected spy at the British Embassy in Germany sent a dossier of names and activities of UK agents to a senior Russian general, it is alleged.
David Smith, 57, is accused of taking videos of CCTV systems at the embassy, amassing documents marked ‘secret’, and making copies with a view to leaking to Russia, it is said.
The security guard at the embassy in Berlin is accused of writing a letter to General Major Sergey Chukhurov, the military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Germany, containing a cache of sensitive details.
Smith is accused of nine breaches of the Official Secrets Act, between October 2020 and August last year, and appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday.
Flanked by two plain-clothes guards, Smith pleaded not guilty to all nine charges as his case was sent to the Old Bailey for trial by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring.
Smith, dressed in a blue jumper and jeans and speaking with a Scottish accent, confirmed hs name and age before adding: “I don’t have an address at the moment.”
He used a hearing aid to follow proceedings, and was remanded in custody until a hearing at the Old Bailey in front Mr Justice Sweeney on April 13.
According to the charges, Smith “attempted to communicate with another person, namely you sent a letter to General Major Sergey Chukhurov, the Russian military attaché based out of the Russian Embassy, Berlin” between October and December 2020.
“This material contained details about the activities, identities, addresses and telephone numbers of various members of Her Majesty’s Civil Service”, it reads, alleging Smith’s actions were “prejudicial to the state”.
He faces claims of “collecting material relating to the operation and layout of the British Embassy in Berlin” with a view that it would be “useful to an enemy, namely the Russian state”.
Smith faces allegations that he “collected material classified at ‘Secret’ relating to the activities of Her Majesty’s Government and the British Embassy in Berlin”, “made an unauthorised photocopy of documents”, and he is accused of twice making “video recordings of the CCTV system” at the embassy.
The guard is accused of keeping hold of SIM card packaging when he had been told to destroy it.
And it is said he was approached on August 9 last year “by a person you believed to be a member of Russian Military Intelligence (the GRU)”, when he allegedly “communicated information, namely about the building repairs to the British Embassy, Berlin”.
He was extradited from Germany to the UK on Wednesday and held overnight in custody ahead of today’s court appearance.
He was initially arrested in August last year, with authorisation sought from the UK Attorney General to bring criminal charges in November.
Smith denied eight counts of committing an act prejudicial to safety or interest of the State, and a further charge of breaching a provision of the regulations, all contrary to the Official Secrets Act.
