ITN : Dead MI6 spy was vulnerable to blackmail, says his boss

Dead MI6 spy was vulnerable to blackmail, says his boss

April 26, 2012

An MI6 officer has said dead spy Gareth Williams was vulnerable to blackmail, having carried out unauthorised searches on intelligence computers, an inquest heard.

Speaking behind a screen, the officer known as Witness F, said a malign or hostile party could have "theoretically put some pressure on to Gareth".

However, the agent said a review found no evidence that the Secret Service was involved in the death of the "maths genius" who was found dead in a bag in his bath.

Mr Williams' decomposing body was found curled up in a padlocked sports holdall in his west London flat on August 23 2010.

However, no alarm was raised until a week after he failed to turn up for work.

Witness F apologised for the delay in reporting him missing, causing some members of his family to walk out of the inquest at Westminster Coroners Court in tears.

How Mr Williams could have locked himself in the bag has sparked a wave of speculation and conspiracy theories, including that he was assassinated by foreign spies.

However, Witness F said the Secret Service had no reason to suspect any foreign intelligence service posed a threat to Mr Williams or had identified him as a target.