Express : I FOUND ‘BODY IN A BAG’ SPY GARETH WILLIAMS WITH HIS HANDS TIED TO BED

I FOUND ‘BODY IN A BAG’ SPY GARETH WILLIAMS WITH HIS HANDS TIED TO BED

By Cyril Dixon | April 26, 2012

MI6 officer Gareth Williams had to be rescued by his landlady after tying himself to his bed in a bizarre “sexual” pose, an inquest heard yesterday.

Jenny Elliot said she and her husband Brian cut him free after finding him on the bed, dressed only in boxer shorts with his wrists bound to the headboard.

Mrs Elliot, 73, said the incident happened when Mr Williams rented their “granny” flat during his time at GCHQ intelligence centre in Cheltenham.

After hearing him cry for help, they found him on his back, his hands secured to the bed through tight loops made of fabric, and the duvet covering just his legs.

The landlady said in a written statement to the inquest: “He told my husband there was a knife on the side and my husband cut him free.

“My husband said ‘What the bloody hell are you doing?’ and he said ‘I just wanted to see if I could get free’.

“We said ‘Gareth, we can’t have you doing this’. He agreed and said it wouldn’t happen again.”

She added: “He was very embarrassed and panicky and apologetic. My husband and I discussed it and said it was more likely to be sexual than escapology.”

Mrs Elliot’s evidence was read to coroner Fiona Wilcox on the third day of the inquest into 31-year-old Mr Williams’ death in August 2010.

The brilliant codebreaker and cycling enthusiast’s body was found naked and locked inside a sports holdall which was left in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, central London.

Mrs Elliot said: “My husband and I heard Gareth shouting at about 1.30am. I then called ‘are you OK?’ and Gareth replied ‘Can you help me?’

“We both went upstairs to find him lying on his back with both his hands and arms tied with material which was separately attached to each bobble on the end of the headboard.”

Elizabeth Guthrie, a friend, told the inquest Mr Williams was “straight” and not interested in cross-dressing, despite having women’s clothes worth £20,000 in his flat. She said they planned to attend a fancy-dress ball together, dressed as Manga cartoon characters, but insisted “nothing of a sexual bent” was going on.

She confirmed her friend had sometimes used another name.

Mr Williams’ boss admitted to the coroner that he should have acted sooner when the officer failed to turn up to an MI6 meeting in August 2010.

The manager, identified only as Witness G and giving evidence from behind a 10ft screen, added: “In hindsight, knowing what I know now, should I have taken action? Absolutely.”

The hearing continues today.