LONDON: A man who passed highly sensitive information to the Russian state while working as a security guard at the British embassy in Berlin was on Friday jailed for 13 years and two months in a London court.
The court heard David Ballantyne Smith, 58, collected confidential information for more than three years, including “secret” government communications with then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other sensitive documents.
Smith pleaded guilty in November to eight offenses under the Official Secrets Act, including one charge relating to passing information to General Major Sergey Chukhrov, the Russian military attaché to Berlin, in November 2020.
The seven other charges involve collecting information which might be useful to Russia, four of which relate to an MI5 officer posing as “Dmitry,” a Russian national who was supposedly providing assistance to Britain.
Earlier this week, Smith told the court he is “disgusted with myself and ashamed of what I’ve done” and had started collecting confidential information during a dispute with colleagues and while suffering depression.
He said he had filmed the documents after drinking “seven pints of beer,” adding: “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” But he said he did not pass the documents on to anyone as “it would be knowingly damaging the UK.”
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British embassy guard who spied for Russia jailed for 13 years
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British embassy guard who spied for Russia jailed for 13 years
- Smith pleaded guilty in November to eight offenses under the Official Secrets Act
- Smith told the court he is “disgusted with myself and ashamed of what I’ve done”
Carney denies claim he walked back Davos speech in Trump call
- Carney’s speech last week in Davos urged middle powers to break their reliance on US economic influence
- Trump told Carney to watch his words as “Canada lives because of the United States”
TORONTO: Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday denied a claim that he walked back his speech at the World Economic Forum denouncing US global leadership in a subsequent call with President Donald Trump.
Carney’s speech last week in Davos, which captured global attention, said the rules-based international order led by the United States for decades was enduring a “rupture” and urged middle powers to break their reliance on US economic influence, which Washington was partly using as “coercion.”
The speech angered Trump, who told Carney to watch his words as “Canada lives because of the United States.”
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “I was in the Oval with the president today. He spoke to Prime Minister Carney, who was very aggressively walking back some of the very unfortunate remarks he made at Davos.”
Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday that Bessent was incorrect.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” he said.
Carney reiterated that Canada “was the first country to understand the change in US trade policy that (Trump) had initiated, and we’re responding to that.”
Carney told reporters that Trump initiated the Monday call, which touched on issues ranging from Arctic security, Ukraine and Venezuela.
Carney’s speech last week in Davos, which captured global attention, said the rules-based international order led by the United States for decades was enduring a “rupture” and urged middle powers to break their reliance on US economic influence, which Washington was partly using as “coercion.”
The speech angered Trump, who told Carney to watch his words as “Canada lives because of the United States.”
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said: “I was in the Oval with the president today. He spoke to Prime Minister Carney, who was very aggressively walking back some of the very unfortunate remarks he made at Davos.”
Carney told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday that Bessent was incorrect.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” he said.
Carney reiterated that Canada “was the first country to understand the change in US trade policy that (Trump) had initiated, and we’re responding to that.”
Carney told reporters that Trump initiated the Monday call, which touched on issues ranging from Arctic security, Ukraine and Venezuela.
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