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词条 Michael John Smith (espionage)
释义

  1. Education

  2. Early politics

  3. Employment

  4. Espionage

  5. Arrest

  6. Damage assessment

  7. Follow-ups

  8. References

  9. External links

{{other people|Michael Smith}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}

Michael John Smith was born on 22 September 1948.

In 1992 Smith was arrested, accused spying for the KGB, and charged with four offenses under sections 1(1)(b) and (c) of the UK Official Secrets Act 1911.[1] Smith was convicted on the three section 1(1)(c) charges relating to 'communicating material to another for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State'. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison,[1] reduced in June 1995 on appeal to 20 years.[2] Christopher Andrew in his history of the KGB described Smith as "probably the most important British Line X agent since the retirement of (Melita) Norwood".[3]

Education

Between 1960 and 1967 Smith attended Ockendon Courts County Secondary Modern School, Essex and gained nine GCE 'O' levels and four 'A' levels. He went on to the University of Surrey where he graduated in 1971 with a degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.{{citation needed|reason= |date=February 2015}}

Early politics

Smith joined the Communist Party of Great Britain[3] in 1972. In 1975 he became the secretary of the Kingston branch of the Young Communist League.{{citation needed|reason= |date=February 2015}}

Employment

Upon graduating Smith found employment for a short time as a trainee assistant electronic engineer at a small engineering company. In April 1972 he joined Rediffusion in Chessington as a Junior Engineer.[4]

In July 1976 he started work as a test engineer in the Quality Assurance department of Thorn EMI Defence Electronics at Feltham, Middlesex.[3] As a part of this role he had security clearance to allow him access to material classified up to SECRET.[2]{{rp|584}}

From 1985 to 31 July 1992, when he was made redundant, he was a Quality Audit Manager at the Hirst Research Centre, Wembley, the central research laboratory of General Electric Company plc,[3] which undertook a wide range of Ministry of Defence (MoD) and commercial projects. Since at least 1977 it had been a ‘prohibited place’ under Section 3(b) of the Official Secrets Act 1911 because it held classified material for the purpose of fulfilling MoD contracts. These contracts cover a range of military equipment, including the Rapier missile.[3]

Espionage

The prosecutors alleged that Smith was recruited as a spy by Colonel Viktor Oshchenko ({{lang-ru|Виктор Ощенко}}), a KGB Line X officer,[5] who befriended him at a union meeting in 1975[3] and ran him until September 1979.[6]

Oshchenko defected in July 1992[3][7] and provided information that is said to have confirmed suspicions that Smith had provided information on the XN-715 radar fuse[3] for the British WE.177 free-fall nuclear bomb.[1] The fuse was developed by Thorn EMI in conjunction with a number of MoD research establishments.

Despite the fact that the most serious alleged espionage occurred whilst he was working for EMI, the trial was confined to charges relating to documents taken from GEC in his possession at the time of his arrest.[8]

Arrest

By the time of Oshchenko's defection Smith was no longer working for a defence contractor. Mi5 gave him the code name Parellic and placed him under surveillance.[9] Given the information provided by Oshchenko after his defection it was decided to arrest Smith as soon as possible.{{citation needed|reason= |date=February 2015}} In August 1992 a member of the Security Service telephoned him pretending to be a friend of Oshchenko and suggested that they should meet.[1] It was arranged to call Smith at a telephone kiosk near his home. The call did not take place due to a mix up, but Smith was under surveillance by the Metropolitan Police near the kiosk. When Smith returned home he was arrested.{{citation needed|reason= |date=February 2015}}

Analysis of Smith's financial affairs revealed unexplained income of over £20,000.[3]

During a search of the boot of his car, police found a plastic bag full of documents and some components. Amongst the documents were handwritten notes headed "Micromachining Project" and "Micron-Valve Project", and a document that an expert at the trial linked to the ALARM anti-radiation missile project.{{citation needed|reason= |date=February 2015}}

Damage assessment

The report of the Security Commission dated July 1995 prepared after an inquiry into the case stated that:

"The material known to have been obtained by Smith during his time at GEC which led to the charges and his conviction under the Official Secrets Act, was a mixed bag. Some was already in the public domain and some was of value more for its commercial than for its military potential. But a number of documents contained more sensitive material, relating to weapons systems. The potential damage to the UK overall including the Rapier is assessed as considerable. In the case of the other current weapon system, the detailed information contained in the document which should have been classified SECRET would have enabled an intelligent enemy to deduce operating parameters which would have allowed counter-measures to be developed. The potential damage to the national interest in the case of that weapons system is assessed as serious."[10]

Follow-ups

On 10 January 2006 Andrew Mackinlay MP asked in Parliament for clarification as to which weapon system the most serious document in the prosecution was linked.[11] Smith alleges that this document had nothing to do with ALARM, as alleged in his trial.{{citation needed|reason= |date=February 2015}}

References

1. ^{{cite book |last=West |first=Nigel |date=2 September 2009 |title=The A to Z of British Intelligence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYAXAAAAQBAJ&dq=Viktor+Oshchenko+michael+smith&source=gbs_navlinks_s |location=London |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page= |isbn=978-0810868656 |access-date=2015-02-11 }}
2. ^{{cite book |last=Andrew |first=Christopher |date=3 November 2009 |title=Defend the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M84O5pYh3rcC&pg=PA584&lpg=PA584 |location=London |publisher=Knopf |page=586 |isbn=978-0307263636 |access-date=2015-02-11 }}
3. ^{{cite book |last=Andrew |first=Christopher |date=5 September 1999 |title=The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wVndU5P4V-8C&pg=PT361&lpg=PT361&dq=michael+john+smith+thorn+emi&source=bl&ots=gcxlvW_MEX&sig=V0TYdRih2ql9ESuC3Bj4dM4InAo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_YjaVOa5A-yTsQSEqYGgDQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=michael%20john%20smith%20thorn%20emi&f=false |location=London |publisher=Basic Books |page= |isbn=978-0465003129 |access-date=2015-02-10 }}
4. ^{{cite web |author= |date=March 2015 |title=Remembering Rediffusion Limited; Group Employees |url=http://www.rediffusion.info/employees.html |publisher= |access-date=2015-03-03 }}
5. ^{{cite book |last=Primakov |first=Yevgeny |date= 11 October 2004 |title=Russian Crossroads: Toward the New Millennium |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNuKcw6_iuMC&pg=PA91&lpg=PA91 |location=New Haven, Connecticut |publisher=Yale University Press |quote=But perhaps the biggest traitor was Colonel Viktor Oshchenko ... Those three also belonged to the Scientific and Technical Intelligence Service. |page=91 |isbn=978-0300097924 |access-date=2015-03-03 }}
6. ^{{cite news |last1=Conett |first1=David |last2=Cusick |first2=James |date=19 November 1993 |title=KGB defection that spelt end for undercover agent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/kgb-defection-that-spelt-end-for-undercover-agent-1505186.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |access-date=2015-02-10 }}
7. ^The Espionage Goes on, Janice Castro, Time Magazine, 31 August 1992
8. ^{{cite news |author= |date=20 November 1993 |title=В Великобритании осужден российский шпион; Инженер Смит занимался промышленным шпионажем (In Britain, Russian spy convicted; Engineer Smith engaged in industrial espionage) |url=http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/65332 |newspaper=Kommersant |location=Moscow |access-date=2015-03-30 }}
9. ^{{cite book |last=West |first=Nigel |date=26 January 2007 |title=Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0eAHTaMMP6QC&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314&dq=parellic+spy&source=bl&ots=TbAFoi8C9c&sig=4DW0jKBBMxS7xr1KbveRDE7P4xg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TPbcVLByqrWwBLSSguAG&ved=0CFcQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=parellic&f=false |location=London |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=314 |isbn=978-0810857704 |access-date=2015-02-12 }}
10. ^Security Commission report Cm 2930, Report by the UK's Security Commission following an investigation of the case
11. ^[https://web.archive.org/web/20060214034724/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060110/text/60110w19.htm Bandpass Filter Assembly component], Andrew Mackinlay MP asks in the House of Commons for clarification on the document alleged to be linked to the ALARM missile project. 10 Jan 2006 Hansard: Column 501W

External links

  • Operation Billiards, Smith's blog
  • Oshchenko debriefings, Oshchenko's MI5 debriefings on the case
  • Gordievsky briefing, Oleg Gordievsky's MI5 briefing on the case
  • Prosecution Case Summary, Case Summary prepared by the Prosecution before the trial
  • Defence expert Dr Eamonn Maher's report, "Analysis of Exhibited Material from a Technical Standpoint" dated June 1993
  • Evidence of Professor Meirion Francis Lewis, Controversial evidence from Professor Lewis that resulted in Smith's conviction
  • X-examinations Stella Rimington & Gordievsky, Cross-examinations of Stella Rimington and Gordievsky by defence counsel
  • Evidence of KGB agent Mr E, Evidence of a US citizen referred to as Mr E that he had been recruited by Oshchenko
  • Judge's Summing-Up (1993), Summing-up by Mr Justice Blofeld
  • Court of Appeal Judgement (1995), Final Judgement issued at the appeal
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140714143143/http://www.jar2.com/2/MikeSmith/Case_Files/ECHR%20Decision.pdf Ruling of ECHR on application by Smith], Ruling of the ECHR that application by Smith was inadmissible on all grounds
{{Soviet Spies}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Michael John}}

6 : 1948 births|Living people|Alumni of the University of Surrey|British people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union|1992 in politics|General Electric Company plc

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