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British embassy guard facing nine charges of spying for Russia under official secrets act
A British man who was an embassy guard in Germany is facing nine charges under the Official Secrets Act, accused of spying for Russia.
David Ballantyne was extradited from Germany, where he was living in Potsdam and working as a security guard.
The 57-year-old will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court today, over alleged offences committed between October 2020 and August 2021, before the war in Ukraine started.
According to a statement by the Met Police, he was was extradited back to the UK from Germany on Wednesday, 6 April following his arrest by German police on 10 August 2021.
The nine charges relate to the collection and communication of information useful to the Russian state.