Two security specialists were given suspended sentences on Friday following the theft of paperwork and cash from the UAE embassy in London where they worked.
Former Royal Marine Lee Hurford, 49, a close protection officer, stole confidential documents and £60,000 ($75,112) from safes within the embassy.
Dean Manister, 51, who arranged for the theft to take place in September 2018, had worked as the embassy’s head of security since 2015, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Hurford, of Leeds, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and attempted theft, while Manister, of Colchester, Essex, admitted two counts of aiding and abetting theft and one count of aiding and abetting attempted theft, at an earlier hearing.
Judge Martin Griffith on Friday sentenced Hurford to 21 months imprisonment and Manister to two years imprisonment, with both prison terms suspended for two years. He told the men they must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
“These were all offences of dishonesty. I make no attempt to assess why they were carried out. There were large amounts of cash in the safes,” he said.
“Mr Manister, I consider you to be the more responsible in this.
“You made it possible for Mr Hurford to be in the rooms and had provided him with keys to the safes, enabling him to bypass the security codes that the day-to-day users expected to protect them.”
The security chief had installed new safes shortly before his resignation on August 31, 2018 following a misconduct probe, and he arranged for Hurford to work the night security shift on September 14.
Hurford was the only person in the building, which was closed for Islamic New Year, when he raided two safes and entered the ambassador’s office, where nothing was taken.
He arrived carrying a hefty suit carrier and black trench coat before stealing about £60,000 in cash, receipts and financial documents belonging to the embassy, a security card and passports.
Manister’s car was captured on automatic number-plate recognition cameras close to the embassy, in Belgravia, central London, on the night of the burglary.
“The defendants’ inside knowledge of the embassy and its workings is a crucial contextual element of this case,” said prosecutor Tyrone Silcott, before the sentencing was announced.
“At least one of them still maintains these thefts are somehow justified by some form of national security.
“We ask your honour to sentence the defendants on the basis this was purely a theft of greed where money was targeted for financial gain."
Robert Smith, defending Hurford, said there was a reference in his client’s pre-sentence report to national security, but told the judge he accepted the prosecution’s case, adding: “He does express remorse.”
The court heard both men are likely to face suspension of their Security Industry Authority licences.
The material removed was protected under international law. “Downloads of their mobile phones show that they contain highly sensitive material relating to counter-terrorism and or politics, being photographs of confidential embassy documents also believed to be subject to diplomatic immunity provided under the Vienna Convention and contact details including those of diplomats,” the prosecution said.
“Given their responsibilities within the organisation they must have known this and must have known the sensitivity of the material.”
