The judge says he is sure Smith committed his crimes "intending to assist Russia, a state which at that time, as now, was regarded as unfriendly to the United Kingdom".

"Your motive in assisting them was to damage British interests," he says. "Your unlawful behaviour was persistent and, to an extent, sophisticated."

He adds that Smith took and "carefully stored" documents of many types, took videos of the embassy in a way which would have been of "maximum assistance to the Russians", and did as much as he could to "ensure that Dmitry's identity could be revealed".

"Your level of culpability is increased still further by the fact that you were receiving money for your criminal conduct," he says.

Mr Justice Wall says he will decide Smith's sentence by weighing up his culpability and the harm done by his behaviour.

He says he will give regard to guidance given by the Court of Appeal's criminal division.

The judge stresses there is a strong public interest in protecting secret information, and the sentence must act as a deterrence to others.

The judge says he assessed Smith's culpability as high.

He says Smith's role at the embassy involved a "high level of trust and responsibility".

The judge is now describing the sting operation involving "Dmitry" and "Irina".

"You were effectively led into believing that Dmitry was a traitor to Russia who was offering information to the United Kingdom," he says to Smith.

"Had Dmitry been a genuine visitor to the British embassy... it is impossible to know what would have been the consequences to him."

"You were paid by Russia for your treachery," the judge says, noting however that there is no evidence the payments amounted to "life-changing amounts of money", although they allowed Smith not to touch his salary. Smith has disputed this.

"I regard these payments as a significant factor in increasing your culpability for your actions," the judge says.

"Your duplicity went until the time of your arrest", the judge says, adding that by August 2021, British authorities suspected Smith of working with Russian agents and organised a "sting operation".

The judge is now laying out details of how Smith passed information to contacts at the Russian embassy.

He says that, in 2020, Smith "established a contact at the Russian embassy" and passed on information, including annotated photos of staff at the British embassy.

"You put those people at maximum risk," the judge says.

Mr Justice Wall says he can only sentence Smith for activities within the indictment period - the period of time the charges relate to - which runs from April 2020.

He says he will consider Smith's culpability for events in 2020 and 2021 against the background of his subversive activities that began two years before the indictment period began.

Mr Justice Wall goes on to describe how Smith gathered information from the British embassy.

"You did it by stealth," he says, and by using the opportunities provided through Smith's employment.

He says Smith visited offices in the embassy at night when others had gone home in order to take pictures of documents "clearly marked as secret".

The judge tells Smith that he "developed anti-British and anti-Western feelings" during his period of employment at the British embassy in Berlin.

The judge tells Smith his co-workers heard him criticise Britain and Germany and "they formed the impression you were more sympathetic to Russia" and to President Putin.

Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from the Old Bailey

As Mr Justice Mark Wall reads out his remarks, I've been glancing over at Smith who is in the dock.

He is attentively listening to the judge and watching as the sentencing remarks are read out.

The courtroom is very old and carries a deep echo, so to help him understand Smith is clutching a hearing aid tool.

Smith is still flanked by the three dock officers - two behind him and one to his left.

The court video feed has now begun, and the judge, Mr Justice Wall, has started his sentencing remarks for David Smith.

Stay with us for live updates - you can also watch the feed from the court at the top of this page. Just click the Play button.

Image source, David Smith social media

Smith is being sentenced under the Official Secrets Act, a law which carries prison sentences of anywhere between two and 14 years.

But there have been cases where judges have opted to hand down a consecutive sentence - which is when multiple prison terms are stacked on top of each other for a person who's committed multiple offences.

Cases like this are rare but they do happen - most notoriously in the case of George Blake, who spied for the USSR in the 1950s. He was sentenced to 42 years - made up of three 14-year sentences.

We don't know of course whether a consecutive sentence would be handed down in Smith's case. And it's worth noting that Smith will be entitled to up to one third off his sentence because he pleaded guilty.

The judge will also take into account his lack of criminal record and mental state when he committed the crimes.

Image source, David Smith social media

Let's look a bit more at the undercover operation which ultimately led to David Smith's arrest 18 months ago.

It was prompted by a letter Smith sent in November 2020 to a member of military staff at the Russian embassy in Berlin, which suggested ongoing contact. The letter ended up in the hands of police and security agents, triggering an investigation.

During the sting operation, Smith was offered the chance to obtain "highly sensitive information" about someone called "Dmitry". He was led to believe this man was a Russian national helping the UK.

Smith was then approached by "Irina", an undercover operative who posed as a Russian intelligence agent.

Smith was caught on camera talking to himself about Dmitry as he recorded his visit from CCTV, saying: "If he works at the embassy they will know him." Mr Justice Wall said these words suggested that Smith was going to provide the images to the Russians so they could investigate.

"I reject the idea he might simply have destroyed [the images]," he said. "It was a concerted effort to get as much information relating to this visit as possible.

“He collected this material to pass on to his Russian contact."

Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from the Old Bailey

I’m at the Old Bailey in central London, waiting for David Smith’s sentencing in courtroom 2.

As we've reported, Smith pleaded guilty to eight charges under the Official Secrets Act and a judge will tell the court what his punishment will be shortly.

Mr Justice Wall dismissed Smith’s version of events during a Newton hearing - a hearing in which a judge sitting alone must decide the facts of the case - and Smith is currently in custody.

We can expect Smith to appear in court today, he will hear his sentence and then be led back to prison.

His crimes have attracted strong condemnation from the National Crime Agency, MI5 and the British embassy at which Smith worked in Berlin.

It’s fair to say it is a strange case - certainly not the sort of thing I usually cover.

It was only last year that the law was changed to allow judges' sentencing remarks to be broadcast live in England and Wales. Scotland has already been doing this for years.

The thinking was that if the public could see the judicial process, they could have more confidence in the system.

In England and Wales though, only four organisations can film: the BBC, ITN, Sky and PA Media. They have to apply to the judge to film the sentencing remarks of a case.

Even then, broadcasters can only film the remarks made by the most senior judges. So you won't see anyone else in our live stream at 10:30.

Earlier this week, the prosecution read out statements in court about the harm Smith had caused.

We know Smith filmed confidential details which were on a whiteboard in the embassy – including key numbers and addresses.

Neil Keeping, of the National Crime Agency (NCA), said had those details been shared then there would have been “potentially catastrophic” consequences.

"It put at risk each and every UK officer based in Berlin from any kind of attack,” he added.

Image source, David Smith social media

Following that previous post - a bit more about what Smith said during court hearings.

He denied the prosecution’s assertion that he was motivated by pro-Russian and anti-British sentiment.

Instead, he said he was motivated by an employment grievance while suffering mental health issues and drinking too much. He claimed to hate his job, and to have been treated badly by staff at the British embassy in Berlin, where he worked.

He also denied that he was paid for information, saying he got cash from the sale of his collection of military articles at German flea markets.

But the judge rejected Smith’s version of events, saying the defendant's argument that he wanted to embarrass embassy staff was "illogical". Justice Wall also pointed out there was “ample evidence” of Smith’s “antipathy” towards Britain.

The judge said the fact that Smith stayed in his job for five years despite his wife moving to Ukraine and him hating his workplace showed “there was something outside of the job itself" which kept him working at the embassy.

Thomas Mackintosh
Reporting from the Old Bailey

Let's have a look at the details around the crimes committed by Smith while employed as a security official at the British embassy in Berlin.

• Count 1 says Smith passed information to a man by the name of General Chukhrov who was at the time the military attaché to the Russian embassy in Berlin
• Count 2 relates to his taking and retaining films of secure parts of the embassy building
• Counts 3 and 4 detail Smith taking copies of and retaining documents, some of which were marked as secret
• Counts 5 to 8 describe his activities in relation to man he thought to be a Russian diplomat called "Dmitry" who attended the embassy while Smith was on duty, and who by his conduct was purporting to be passing Russian secrets to the British

• Count 6 says he took copies of documents given to him by Dmitry to photocopy
• Counts 7 and 8 note Smith made copies of the embassy CCTV footage of Dmitry clearly showing that man’s facial features

Smith has accepted the acts alleged against him, although disputed that his actions were intended to cause harm to the UK, and said he was not paid for what he did.

Image source, David Smith social media

David Ballantyne Smith is from Paisley in Scotland.

He served in the RAF for 12 years and started working as a security guard at the British embassy in Berlin in 2016.

The court heard that his Ukrainian wife moved back to her country in 2018, after which Smith’s behaviour changed.

He was later accused of collecting secret information from the embassy which he stored on a USB stick.

A request was made for his extradition to the UK in November 2021, following a probe by British counter-terrorism police.

Smith was brought back to the UK in April 2022 - and could face a 14-year prison sentence.

James FitzGerald
Live reporter

Image source, Metropolitan Police

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the sentencing of a former British embassy security guard who was caught passing secret information to Russian authorities.

David Ballantyne Smith, 58, worked at the British embassy in Berlin, and was exposed during a sting operation involving British and German security services in August 2021.

He pleaded guilty to eight offences under the Official Secrets Act and will be sentenced shortly.

I’ll be hosting the coverage and I’m joined by live reporters Marita Moloney, Laura Gozzi, Aoife Walsh and Christy Cooney, with Thomas Mackintosh and Tom Symonds reporting from court.

When the sentencing happens at 10:30, you'll be able to watch live by clicking the Play button at the top of the page.