John Alexander Symonds
John Alexander Symonds (born July 13, 1935) is a British former Metropolitan police officer and KGB agent. He was born in the Soke of Peterborough, and served in the Royal Artillery from 1953-56. He joined the Metropolitan Police in 1956, becoming a Detective Sergeant at New Scotland Yard, until 1972 when he fled the UK while facing corruption charges.[1]
Between 1972-80 he was a KGB agent employed as a "Romeo spy" with the codename SKOT. The role he was allocated by his Soviet masters was the seduction of women working in Western embassies with the aim of obtaining secrets.[2]
In the 1980s Symonds had revealed himself as a spy to the police and security services, and appeared on the front page of the Daily Express (1985) and in the News on Sunday (1987) but was dismissed as "a fantasist".[1] It was only with the defection of Major Vasili Mitrokhin in 1992, and the subsequent publication of the Mitrokhin Archive in 1999, where Symonds was named as a spy for the Soviet Union, that his claim gained credence.
Symonds was never prosecuted for any offence related to espionage or spying, and was never interviewed by MI5 or MI6. It was confirmed that Symonds was not being prosecuted for any charge because he had been offered immunity by the Director of Public Prosecutions office in 1984 in connection with a criminal inquiry.[3] [4] This was granted in relation to police corruption inquiries [5], stated by Symonds to be Operation Countryman.
The publication of Mitrokhin's material launched a parliamentary inquiry by the Intelligence and Security Committee. Its report when published referred to the lack of interest shown by the security services to Symonds case:-
The Committee believes that it was a serious failure of the Security Service not to refer Mr Symonds' case to the Law Officers in mid 1993. We are concerned that it took over 9 months to consult the Law Officers after he was identified in the draft book. We believe that the Service could have interviewed Mr Symonds, at least for the intelligence and historical record.[5]
Contents
Police Corruption
In 1969 after having been a police officer for 15 years John Alexander Symonds was one of three officers charged with corruption following a newspaper investigation into bribery at Scotland Yard. He skipped bail and fled to Morocco. Symonds claimed later that he had been 'fitted up' and forced to leave under pain of death after having threatened to expose during any trial "the endemic and systemic corruption within the Metropolitan Police service" at the time.[1]
Mercenary
In Morocco Symonds served as a mercenary, making use of his Police experience and Army expertise and trained African troops to use 25-pound gun Howitzers, which was by this point a defunct old British army gun many of which had been sold off to African countries.[1] It was at this point that Symonds had effectively been recruited by the KGB.[6]
'Romeo Spy' the movie
Prodigy Pictures are in the pre-production stage of making a movie based on the autobiography of John Symonds.[7] A script has been completed and Daniel Craig and Jude Law are being considered to play the lead role.[8].
See also
References
- ↑ a b c d I told you I was a spy - The Guardian 14 April 1999
- ↑ The 'Romeo' spy - BBC News 13 September 1999
- ↑ The spy who came in from the past escapes prosecution - The Independent 21 December 1999
- ↑ Written Answers to Questions - SOLICITOR-GENERAL - Mitrokhin Archive
- ↑ a b Intelligence and Security Committee - The Mitrokhin Inquiry Report
- ↑ BBC: "The Spying Game", first broadcast on BBC2, 19th September 1999.
- ↑ 'Romeo Spy' movie to be produced at Prodigy Pictures Inc
- ↑ To the big screen with love, the story of the British ‘Romeo Spy’
External links
- Romeo Spy Blog the blog of John Alexander Symonds
- BBC Special Report at the time of the release of the Mitrokhin Archive, 13 September 1999
- City man was spy for KGB a local newspaper report published in the Rutland & Stamford Mercury on 13 September 1999
- Intelligence and Security Committee - The Mitrokhin Enquiry Report
- Reply from the Solicitor General on the Mitrokhin Archive, 20 December 1999
- John Symonds and others escape prosecution, 21 December 1999
- Judge's Summing Up complete text by Judge at the end of Symonds' trial
- Nigel West Keynote Speech Nigel West talks about John Symonds at the Raleigh Spy Conference
John Symonds was a Detective Sergeant in London's Metropolitan Police, working in its Criminal Investigation Department. He left England in 1972 and became a mercenary in Africa, using the skills he had learned as a former army officer. In late 1969 John had been caught up in a Times newspaper investigation into police corruption, and was eventually charged with corruptly receiving £150.
Symonds went abroad before the trial, and prepared a detailed dossier to - in his words - "put the record straight about corruption in the Metropolitan Police force". After coming into contact with the KGB, Symonds was used as an agent on a mission that involved Gunter Guillaume, who at that time was a spy within the private office of West Germany's Chancellor Willy Brandt. Symonds then received special training in Moscow, and became a "The Romeo Spy".
