A SCOTTISH man has appeared in court charged with espionage.
David Ballantyne Smith was extradited from Germany where he worked as a security guard at the British Embassy in Berlin.
He appeared at the Westminster Magistrates' Court today, flanked by security guards.
Mr Smith, originaly from Paisley, is accused of sending a dossier of names and activities of UK agents to a senior Russian general, of taking videos of CCTV systems at the embassy, collecting documents marked 'secret' and making copies of them with the aim of leaking to Russia.
The 57-year-old is accused of writing a letter to General Major Sergey Chukhurov, the military attaché at the Russian Embassy in Germany, containing a cache of sensitive details.
Smith is accused of nine breaches of the Official Secrets Act, between October 2020 and August 2021.
He appeared at the court today wearing a blue jumper and jeans, and requested a hearing loop to listen to the proceedings.
The 57-year-old confirmed his name and age, but told the court that he no longer had an address.
He appeared unemotional as he pleaded not guilty, and his case was sent to the Old Bailey for trial by Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring.
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