Shayler jailed for six months
5th NOV , 2002.DAILY MAIL online.
David Shayler
Renegade spy David Shayler was today sentenced to six months in prison after he was convicted of revealing security secrets.
Shayler, 36, who remained seated throughout the sentencing, looked resigned as he stood up and was led from the dock at the Old Bailey.
Trial Judge Mr Justice Moses said the defendant had shown "blinkered arrogance" in committing the offences.
The 36-year-old former MI5 agent was found guilty yesterday of disclosing information, documents and information from telephone taps in breach of the Official Secrets Act.
The prosecution said he had potentially placed the lives of dozens of secret agents at risk.
The judge told Shayler he could be free after serving half his sentence.
Mr Justice Moses said he had taken into account the three-and-a-half months Shayler had spent in a French jail while the Government tried unsuccessfully to extradite him.
Shayler looked relieved as the judge announced the sentence straight away and told him to sit while he addressed his remarks at him.
The judge said he was prepared to accept that Shayler was motivated by a desire to expose what he thought was wrong - not by money.
But he added: "Your own actions demonstrate a lack of any real insight into what you were doing or any intelligent foresight into its consequences.
"It is, contrary to your own belief, that blinkered arrogance which has led you here today."
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