WORLD : Czech Spy Sentenced in London

A Czechoslovak spy sent to Britain to ferret out U.S. “Star Wars” secrets and infiltrate Soviet emigre groups was jailed for 10 years today.

The 44-year-old man told British security agents who caught him receiving coded radio messages at his London home that he was Dutch-born art dealer Erwin van Haarlem. After a five-day trial laced with tales of intrigue, conspiracy and false identity, Judge Simon-Brown told the slim, dark-haired man: “I address you by the name van Haarlem, although I am convinced it was not yours by birth. I have not the least doubt that you are a dedicated, disciplined and resourceful spy, and I have equally no doubt that had you not been caught you would in future years have done whatever your Czech controllers required you to do, however harmful that might have been to our national interest.”