A British security guard has been sentenced by a London court to 13 years and 2 months in prison for having spied for Russia. The defendant worked at the United Kingdom Embassy in Berlin for eight years and in 2020 would have passed information to the Russian Army.

Judge Mark Wall of the Old Bailey criminal court has read the sentence at the end of the trial to which the guard David Smith, 58, arrested in August 2021, has been subjected.

Specifically, Smith would have taken and passed personal data of officials from the Embassy and also isecurity camera images Russian Major General Sergey Chukhurov.

In a first to the military attaché in the Russian Embassy and promised him that he would receive more information. In a second letter he passed along photographs of Embassy staff with annotated descriptions, putting them at “maximum risk.” The guard received economic compensation from Russia for “triating” him, according to the judge.

Before reading the sentence, the magistrate said that Smith had copied a “significant amount of material” over the years and that he “knew that he should not have copied any of these documents.” The guard also knew that if those documents fell into the wrong hands, could harm the interests of the United Kingdomoo represent a threat to those who work with him, the judge has indicated.

As the prosecution has argued in the trial, Smith wanted to harm the United Kingdom and expressed discontent when the British Embassy raised a flag in support of the LGBTQ + community. Smith was arrested in the German city of Potsdam and, following an investigation by British anti-terrorism police, the United Kingdom requested his extradition, which was carried out last April. Now, the ex-guard has the right to decide whether he will serve his sentence in the UK or in Germany.