‘I spied for the Russians because I was depressed’

A British Embassy spy put lives at risk when he sold secrets to the Russians, a court heard.

Paisley traitor David Ballantyne Smith, 58, gathered a mass of classified information for Russia while working as a security guard in the British Embassy in Berlin.

He shared letters between the then Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson that were classified as ‘secret’.

The Scot was unmasked in a joint investigation by German police and British security services and arrested at his home in Potsdam in August 2021.

Smith was motivated by ‘an extreme hatred of where he works and the United Kingdom in general’, the court has heard.

At the time of Smith’s arrest in Germany, Alison Morgan, KC, prosecuting said: ‘There is no record of him providing any account or information to authorities at that time.’

After his arrest, a journalist took pictures of Smith’s address and captured a large Russian Federation flag in his home.

A bookshelf was packed with various Russian books and a Soviet military hat sat on top of it.

Also pictured at his home was a Communist toy Lada car – a Russian state-owned car manufacturer – and a life-sized cuddly Russian toy Rottweiler wearing a Russian Military hat.

Ms Morgan told the Old Bailey: ‘There were various books about young female Russian snipers and soldiers who fought in battles between the Nazi’s and the Soviets.

‘So various Russian paraphernalia within the defendant’s address.

‘Also found at the address were various documents including documents from gov.uk regarding Russia, Embassy Defence Attaché compliments slips and a Post-It note with two names and addresses.’

Within his locker at work also found was a list of official residences of the British Embassy, a dictionary of Russian obscenities and a cartoon of President Putin in a military uniform holding the head of Angela Merkel and the words ‘Russland bitte befreie uns noch einmal’ meaning ‘Russia, please free us once again’.

Smith was extradited from Berlin to London Heathrow where he was arrested on 6 April 2022.

When approached by a British security worker known as ‘Irina’ who was posing as a member of the Russian security services, Smith was shown photographs of individuals he might recognise.

Ms Morgan said: ‘His failure to end the conversation, his failure to respond, is consistent with him trying to work out whether this was genuinely a Russian official he could engage with or if he should say anything.

‘He told Irina that he would have to check with someone.

‘The video shows the defendant engaging in general discussion about the Embassy, displaying some kind of contempt for his employment, saying he’s worked there for five years too long.’

The prosecution argues that the aggravating features of Smith’s offending are the prolific nature of his activities occurring over a three-year period and acquiring vast amounts of sensitive material.

In addition, the highly sensitive nature of the material, which the defendant must have realised placed the lives of others at risk and the fact that the defendant instigated contact with the Russian state.

The offending also occurred in the context of the defendant’s pre-existing anti-UK views, at a time when he remained employed by the UK authorities and he received financial gain.

Smith, originally from Paisley, Scotland, has admitted eight offences under the Official Secrets Acts 1911 and 1920, committed between May 2020 and August 2021.

The charges state he committed an act prejudicial to the safety or interest of the State and the information he shared was calculated to be, or might be useful to an enemy, namely the Russian State.

According to guidelines, he could face up to 14 years in prison.

The guard denied a ninth like-offence alleging he leaked information about embassy building repairs on 6 August 2021 and the charge is expected to be ordered to lie on file.

Mr Justice Mark Wall will sentence Smith after a week-long Newton hearing on Friday 17 February.

Smith was later led to the witness box in handcuffs, wearing a blue sweater and jeans.

Asked why he shared British embassy secrets with the Russians, he told the court: ‘I was depressed being alone all the time after my wife went back to Ukraine.

‘I was angry at diplomats, there was a definite “them and us” attitude. There was bullying at some points.

‘I felt undervalued and ignored, I was only there for someone’s convenience. I felt angry, people mocking me for my disability, especially when done in front of other people. It was humiliating.

‘Basically, I had had enough of it all.’

Smith admitted he was ‘disgusted’ with himself, looking back at his conduct.

He said: ‘Not I’m disgusted with myself because at the time I didn’t think; What are we doing? But now I’ve had a year and a half to look back at it, I’m disgusted with myself and ashamed by what I’ve done.’

Matthew Ryder, defending, asked: ‘Did you intend to cause serious harm?’

Smith replied: ‘At no time I just wanted to give the embassy a bit of a slap because I didn’t think it was treating me well.’

Mr Ryder asked: ‘Did you intend to put anybody in danger?’

Smith replied: ‘No not intentionally, no. I’ve seen the statements from people, I’ve seen these harm statements.

‘I can only apologise for any stress I have caused anyone. I didn’t intend to do it. I just had a bit of an aggrievance and I just wanted to embarrass the embassy in what way I can.’

Mr Ryder asked: ‘Would you describe yourself as anti-UK or anti-Germany?’

Smith replied: ‘Not at all, no.’

Asked if he was pro-Putin, Smith said: ‘Not in particular. My thoughts of Mr Putin are neither here nor there.’

Smith denied he contacted anyone from Russian intelligence other than in the two letters he sent in May and November 2020.

‘Did you do any of this for financial gain? Were you ever paid for providing information of any kind?’ asked Mr Ryder.

‘Not in the least,’ he answered.

Smith said he was born in Paisley and joined the Royal Air Force in March 1985.

‘I was in the RAF twice because the first time I joined for two years. I couldn’t muster another trade, so I joined a year later, so I’ve done 12 years in total.

‘Once I left the RAF I lived in Crawley in West Sussex. I worked at Gatwick airport.’

Smith said he worked as cabin crew until 2002.

In 1989 Smith married and had a daughter, but he divorced, marrying his Ukrainian wife in October 2002.

From August 2003 he lived and worked in Germany before getting a job at the British Embassy in Berlin as a security guard.

Smith confirmed that he was a patriotic person, adding: ‘I’m Scottish so I like Scottish music, bagpipes and that type of thing. I like the UK and I served in the RAF obviously, but it’s Scottish – sorry.

‘I have only ever voted once. I don’t take that much interest in politics.’

Smith said he read the views of conspiracy theorist David Icke and also InfoWars ‘to get an alternative view on life’.

He said: ‘I don’t think the press are very honest, sorry that’s my view. I just like to get both sides of a story.’

Asked if he would describe himself as anti-German he said: ‘Not at all, I am quite honest to admit that between 2014 and 2018 I supported the Donbas side of the conflict, it gets reported about the Russian side of the conflict.

‘Just because they speak Russian doesn’t mean they are Russian and I thought that any government that sends an army against its own country I’m sorry I don’t support that.’

Talking about Ukraine he said: ‘It doesn’t matter if you’re fighting for Donbas or Ukraine and I wish people would wake up.

‘I came back from Ukraine a bit more neutral, you should say, and that’s when I started to collect these war items.’

Smith said he struggled with alcohol and depression when his wife left for Ukraine in 2019.

He said: ‘It wasn’t bad for the first few weeks, it didn’t take long coming home to an empty house before I started to become a bit more depressed.

‘The more I was on my own the more depressed I became and the longer it went on the worse it became and the more I started to drink. On the weekend for example, I would have seven bottles of beer, that’s seven pints a day.

‘I would have three weeks alone and every single day for seven days I would have seven pints a day because there was nothing to do with my time. If I didn’t leave the house, I sat on the computer all day.’

After Germany went into lockdown in March 2020 he said he became ‘about 200 times worse’.

He said: ‘My holidays were cancelled, I didn’t get to see my wife. Remember this was supposed to be a killer virus, when everyone else was sitting in their living room doing their orders, we were forced to go into work every day.

‘I was angry when everyone else could be at home whilst we had to go in. I drank more.

‘There were people who were your best mate one day and never see you the next. People who never came to the embassy once. I just went downhill after that, I just started to get worse and worse.

‘At work they must have noticed, I would fly off the handle that sort of thing.

‘All the years of getting emails and all the posters around the embassy I was in the lift one day and I just decided why not.

‘I wasn’t actually offered any treatment medication, I was offered unpaid leave and an FCO helpline but sitting at a desk with them face-to-face someone who knew me, someone who I saw on a daily basis to give me a number…

‘I went to my employer and asked for help and they didn’t do anything. He offered me anti-depressants but antidepressants mixed with alcohol wasn’t a good idea.’

Asked about the connection between his mental health and the offences Smith said: ‘Being on my own and the sense of, what I felt at the time, of being ignored.

‘The drinking all the time, the depression, the fact I had been to my employer and asked for help and they hadn’t done anything – I was angry and I wanted to embarrass them in some way.

‘Call me a spoilt child, or an obstinate prat, but that’s what I felt at the time, they hadn’t done anything when I asked.

‘The bullying, the sense of you are there for everybody’s convenience.

‘It was self-satisfaction, a spoilt child. I never planned on doing something like that, it just happened.’

Mr Ryder said: ‘What made you do it?’

Smith replied: ‘It was anger with everything that was going on at the embassy.

‘It was showing the lack of security, there are things lying all over the place. The security at the embassy wasn’t exactly great and at the time taking the pictures was one way of showing the lack of security. It was a push-back against all the agendas you were shown at the embassy.’

Mr Ryder asked: ‘What did you think you would be doing with that material?’

Smith replied: ‘Nothing, nothing at all. I had no idea. I had no plan nothing.

‘Because I knew I wasn’t allowed, I had done it my way of pushing back. It was my way of saying; “look what I’ve got”.’

Asked who he was demonstrating this to, Smith said: ‘Myself’.