A Russian spy was “hedging his bets” when he was accosted in an undercover sting operation, a court has been told.

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, originally from Paisley, Scotland, was arrested at 2.10pm on 10 August 2021 by officers from the BKA, the German Federal Criminal Investigation Office, following a sting operation by two undercover MI5 officers, posing as Russian agents.

He was taken to Potsdam police headquarters but declined to participate in a police interview and was brought before the examining magistrate of the Federal High Court in Karlsruhe that afternoon.

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Smith, who had worked as a security guard at the British embassy since 2016, was extradited to the UK where he has pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Official Secrets Act 1911 and 1920.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told the Old Bailey at a sentencing hearing that he was “was plainly hedging his bets” when trying to work out if he could trust one of the British agents posing as a Russian spy.

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When approached by a woman calling herself “Irina”, he said he would speak to “someone” first before engaging with her about a man (also a fake agent played by a British spy) called Dmitry passing information to the UK.

Ms Morgan told the hearing that Smith “plainly knew the potential significance” of an individual claiming to be a Russian “walk-in” at the embassy called Dmitry and of a woman called “Irina” who claimed to be from the Russian GRU, military intelligence.

“The prosecution position is that the defendant was stalling in his engagement with Irina and was trying to work out which was the more likely – was this a genuine Russian representative who he could trust with information, even though Irina was patently not someone the defendant would normally engage with, or whether she was someone from the British authorities, and he had in effect been rumbled.”

A sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey was told that during searches of his home in Potsdam, Berlin, German police found a life-size cuddly toy of a Rottweiler wearing a Russian military hat.

He also had a large Russian Federation Flag in the corner of the living room and various Russian books on a bookshelf.

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There was also a Soviet military hat on top of a bookshelf and a toy Lada car, a product of the Soviet state-owned car manufacturer.

Various books, some of them in Russian, covered subjects including young female Russian snipers and soldiers who fought in battles between Nazis and Soviets.

At the same time, a search was conducted of his locker at the British embassy where items found included a cartoon of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, in a military uniform, holding the head of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and the words “Russland bitte befreie uns noch einmal” – or “Russia, please free us once again”.

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There was also a dictionary of Russian obscenities and a list of official residences used by staff at the British embassy, Ms Morgan told the Old Bailey.

The hearing continues.

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