An handout image released by the Metropolitan Police Service on February 17, 2023, shows a still from a covert camera during Russian spy David Smith's meeting with "Irina", a undercover UK agent, on August 9, 2021. (Photo by Metropolitan Police / AFP)
London: A former security guard at the UK's Berlin embassy who admitted spying for Moscow was on Friday handed a jail sentence of over 13 years.
Sentencing him to 13 years and two months in jail, the judge told David Ballantyne Smith "you were paid by Russia for your treachery", adding that his motive had been to "damage British interests".
He has pleaded guilty to spying and will be sentenced Friday at London's Old Bailey court.
Judge Mark Wall rejected Smith's claims that he had passed information to Moscow only twice in order to cause "embarrassment" to the UK, saying his answers were "incredible".
Wall said he would sentence Smith on the basis that he had an "ongoing relationship with someone at the Russian embassy".
