Telegraph : British spy found dead in bath was padlocked into sports bag

British spy found dead in bath was padlocked into sports bag

September 1, 2010

The British spy Gareth Williams who was found dead in a holdall in his bath in London had been padlocked into the bag, an inquest has heard.

Williams, 31, was found dead in his flat in Pimlico half a mile from MI6 headquarters in Vauxhall, on Monday August 23rd.

After colleagues reported him missing, police broke into his flat and found his partially decomposed body locked inside a large sportsbag in the bath, the hearing was told.

Remembered by school mates as a “maths genius”, Mr Williams was on a one-year secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, the government’s “listening post” in Cheltenham, Glos, where he worked for almost a decade.

His position regularly took him to the US where he liaised with the National Security Agency and the CIA and he is also reported to have made a number of visits to Afghanistan.

The cause of his death has still not been established despite two post mortems being carried out. There were no obvious injuries on his body, which is thought to have lain undiscovered for more than a week.

Police have yet to formally declare their inquiries a murder investigation, describing the death as "suspicious and unexplained"

The inquest into his death opened during a brief hearing at Westminster Coroner's Court in central London.

Coroner Dr Paul Knapman said that after breaking into the flat, police "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."

Dr Knapman refused to allow the body to be released for burial and adjourned the inquest for a week while police investigations continue.

The coroner's account was confirmed by Det Chief Insp Jacqueline Sebire, who is leading the investigation into the death.

DCI Sebire said: "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."