Sun : Video of bag bulging with body of spy shown at inquest

Video of bag bulging with body of spy shown at inquest

By STAFF REPORTER | April 25, 2012

DISTURBING footage of a red holdall bulging with the curled-up body of MI6 spy Gareth Williams was played at his inquest today.

The video — taken by police officers who discovered the 31-year-old's body at his Pimlico, West London, home on August 23, 2010 — took the court on a walking tour of his immaculately kept flat.

It revealed carefully arranged piles of books, an extensive CD collection, some of the spy’s own paintings, as well as a red woman’s wig, lipstick and make-up.

And it zoomed in on the North Face bag holding the tragic codebreaker, showing impressions from his limbs inside and a brass padlock locking two zips together from the outside.

Police images of the death scene also showed a cutting from the Observer newspaper headlined “top five regrets of the dying”.

Mr Williams' sister, Ceri Subbe, watched the footage alone after her devastated parents left the court.

Officers found the spy's decomposing body locked inside the holdall in the bathroom of the flat after a cop on foot patrol received instructions to carry out a “welfare check” on Mr Williams, who had not been seen for around 12 days.

Despite exhaustive tests his cause of death remains a mystery.

There was no sign of a break-in — cash was left in a cupboard and a mobile phone was lying on the living room table.

But Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, the officer in charge of the case, today appeared to rule out the idea Mr Williams got in the bag himself.

She told Westminster Coroner’s Court: “My thought or my opinion since I went into the scene is that a third party had been involved in the death or by putting the body in the bag. So my primary focus was looking at the bathroom.”

Specks of mystery DNA were discovered on the bag, the inquest heard.

DCI Sebire said “two minor components of another contributor’s DNA” were found on the zip toggle and padlock.

She also revealed Mr Williams was found in the foetal position, there were no signs of struggle and his body position appeared “calm”.

She added that she would have expected to find fingerprints left by Mr Williams on the bathroom tiles.

She said: “Certainly there were no prints of anybody’s in the lower-tiled wall.

“He was in the foetal position. His legs were folded up towards his chest, his arms were bent slightly inwards.

“In my opinion he was very calm. His face was very calm. His hands were resting on his chest.”

The last evidence he was alive was left on August 16 when he looked at a cycling time trial website.

The inquest had already heard there was £20,000 worth of women’s clothing in the flat, described as “immaculate” and “in pristine condition”.

Ms Sebire described the “high-value” items found in the smaller bedroom, which included 26 shoes and boots, mainly bearing designer labels such as Christian Louboutin, Stella McCartney, Christian Dior and Chloe.

There were also wigs wrapped in net packaging, which “appear to be unused” including one Mr Williams had bought on his recent trip to the US.

Make-up items including nail varnish and eye shadow were “all new” and apparently unused.

Asked by Coroner Fiona Wilcox whether she thought the clothes would have fitted Mr Williams, the detective replied: “Possibly.”