Guardian : MI6 employee's body was in padlocked holdall, inquest told

MI6 employee's body was in padlocked holdall, inquest told

Cause of Gareth Williams's death yet to be established but inquest officially reveals details for the first time

by Vikram Dodd | September 1, 2010

The body of Gareth Williams, the MI6 employee found dead in his flat last week, was discovered in a large sports holdall which was secured shut by a padlock, an inquest heard today.

His body was in an advanced state of decay and is believed to have lain undiscovered for some days in a bath.

The cause of his death is yet to be established and the bizarre circumstances of his demise, added to his work for the intelligence services, have led to speculation about his lifestyle and how he came to die. The opening of the inquest was the first chance for details of his death to be made public officially.

Williams, 31, was found on 23 August at his flat in Pimlico, London, half a mile from the headquarters of MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service. He was an expert in codes and was on secondment to MI6 from his usual job at GCHQ, the government's "listening post" based in Cheltenham.

Coroner Dr Paul Knapman, sitting at Westminster coroner's court, said: "I have a resumé here which says to me that on Monday August 23rd police were called to check on the welfare of Gareth Williams at his home address as he had not been seen at work.

"At about 6.30pm that evening, I understand police entered the premises. They found a large holdall in the bath in the en suite bathroom of the main bedroom.

"The holdall was padlocked shut and inside was a lifeless body, and it appeared that the body was in an advanced state of decay."

A post mortem examination carried out on 25 August failed to establish a cause of death and investigations are continuing, the court heard. A pathologist found Williams was not stabbed or shot and there were no obvious signs of strangulation. Detectives are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to see if drugs, alcohol or poison can explain the death.

Police say he was last seen alive on 15 August, some eight days before his body was discovered.

Knapman said he would not yet release the body to the family for burial. They were not in court for the opening of the inquest, which was adjourned for one week.

Detective Chief Inspector Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the investigation, appealed for anyone with information to come forward: "This remains an unexplained death. We would appeal for any witnesses who saw Mr Williams in any circumstances after August 11 onwards until the 23rd when he was discovered."

Knapman added: "Various specialist departments of the Metropolitan police were called and it was confirmed it was a male and, as we have heard, the description matched Gareth Williams. The homicide and serious crime command were much involved."

He added that the first post mortem had failed to establish cause of death "and so further tests are being carried out".