David Smith was a security guard in the British embassy in Berlin and is alleged to have received money in exchange for information. Reports claim the Briton hated the UK and even kept a cartoon of Vladimir Putin holding Angela Merkel’s severed head in his work locker.
The 58-year-old claims he was not paid and was motivated by an employment grievance while suffering mental health issues.
Mr Smith began working at the embassy in Berlin in 2016.
The court heard that his behaviour changed when his wife moved back to Ukraine, her home country, in late 2018.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said Smith went from being “keen and polite” to expressing anti-UK and anti-German views.
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Smith pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in November to eight charges of having “leaked details about the identities and activities of UK agents” to General Major Sergey Chukhrov at Berlin’s Russian Embassy.
Speaking at the start of his sentencing hearing on Monday, Alison Morgan KC, prosecuting, said Smith became the focus of an MI5 operation after German police intercepted a letter he had sent to the general.
Smith faces a maximum of 14 years in prison.
He will be sentenced on Friday.
