A safety guard on the British Embassy in Berlin has been charged with spying for Russia.
David Ballantyne Smith, 57, is accused of committing 9 offences below the Official Secrets and techniques Act.
He has been charged with seven counts of gathering data with the intent of sending it to the Russian authorities, one among trying communication and one among offering data to an individual he believed to be a consultant of the Russian state.
Mr Smith was arrested by German police on 10 August final yr, on suspicion of gathering data from the embassy with the intention of passing it to a overseas nation.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) stated it labored with the Metropolitan Police to construct a prosecution case and authorised prices on 15 November after acquiring consent from the legal professional common.
Mr Smith, who lived within the German metropolis of Potsdam on the time, was extradited to the UK right now and can seem earlier than Westminster Magistrates’ Courtroom on Thursday.
The 9 alleged offences, below the Official Secrets and techniques Act 1911 and the Official Secrets and techniques Act 1920, had been dedicated between 31 October 2020 and 10 August 2021.
A spokesperson for the CPS stated: “Legal proceedings in opposition to the defendant are lively and he has the precise to a good trial.
“This can be very essential that there needs to be no reporting, commentary or sharing of data on-line which might in any approach prejudice these proceedings.”
Kaynak: briturkish.com
