Telegraph : MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'probably died from poisoning or asphyxiation'

MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'probably died from poisoning or asphyxiation'

MI6 spy Gareth Williams is most likely to have died from poisoning, suffocation or strangulation, his inquest heard today.

By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | April 30, 2012

Pathologist Dr Benjamin Swift said Mr Williams’ body was so badly decomposed it meant his cause of death could not be officially “ascertained”.

But he said “poisoning or asphyxiation” were the “foremost contenders” for his death.

The court heard how he could have been dead within "two to three minutes" of being in bag due to the levels of carbon dioxide that would have quickly built up.

The inquest at Westminster Coroners’ Court is investigating Mr Williams’ death, whose decomposing, naked body was found in a padlocked holdall in his bath at his flat in Pimlico in August 2010.

It has already heard that some poisons may not show up in a post mortem because of the level of decomposition.

Dr Swift estimated Mr Williams’ body had been in the bag for ten days.

A second pathologist, Dr Ian Calder said death from carbon dioxide poisoning, because of the restricted breathing space within the bag, was a “very likely possibility”.

Dr Richard Shepherd, who carried out a third post mortem, said he was sure Mr Williams suffered an “unnatural death” and that poisoning or suffocation were the most likely causes.

He said he believed he died in the bag.

Evidence of slight bruising and grazing were also found on Mr Williams' arms but the three separate post mortem examinations failed to find any evidence of a “traumatic” death or struggle.

Dr Shepherd said there was no suggestion he had been “manhandled” but could not rule out he might have been coerced to climb in to it himself, possibly even gunpoint.

He said the slight bruising and grazes could have come from being inside the bag.

But even if he was aware of his predicament and attempted to escape, the padlock on the bag would have “sealed” his fate, he said.

The sixth day of the inquest also heard how police followed a potential DNA clue for more than year before it emerged it belonged to a forensic officer who attended the scene.

An error in recording the data for checking on the database meant no match was initially found suggesting a mystery person was at the flat.

Evidence from forensics officers showed spots of blood were found on the carpet near the kitchen, on the edge of the bath and in the communal doorway.

They also recovered “very weak” traces of blood from the bag handles and padlock. The inquest has already heard that police are still investigating those traces.

A forensic officer also apologised to Mr Willliams’ family after his blunder sent the police on a wild goose chase for more than a year.

Officers believed that had recovered an unknown DNA sample from the back of Mr Williams’ hand.

It was not until February this year that it emerged the sample belonged to a forensic officer from the scene but there had been error when uploading it meaning it did not initially throw up a match.

In a written statement, Paul Stafford Allen apologise for the “distressed” it must have caused.

The inquest heard on Friday how Mr Williams must have been “dead or unconscious” when placed in to the sports bag.

Peter Faulding, a former Parachute Regiment reservist and expert in confined rescues, concluded that not even Harry Houdini could have padlocked himself in the holdall in the bath.

His revelations will further fuel theories that the 31-year-old codebreaker may have been killed.

The maths prodigy had been on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ when he died.

The issue of whether Mr Williams could lock himself in the bag is central to the inquiry and has fuelled theories that a third party was involved.

The inquest at Westminster Coroners’ Court is investigating Mr Williams’ death, whose decomposing, naked body was found in a padlocked holdall in his bath at his flat in Pimlico in August 2010.

Video footage of attempts to recreate climbing in to an 81cm by 48 cm holdall and locking it was shown to the court.

Mr Faulding, who is of similar height and build to Mr Williams, tried to climb in to a bag inside a bath and lock it himself 300 times and failed every time.

The inquest heard that if Mr Willliams had been alive when he went in to the bath, he would have been dead within 30 minutes.

Oxygen levels dropped to 17 per cent and the temperature rose by 10 per cent within five minutes.

However, another expert in “unusual occurrences” and confined places suggested Mr Williams may have been able to do it himself but it was very unlikely.

William MacKay and a colleague tried and failed 100 times although they came “reasonably close” at times.

He said: “There are people who can do amazing things and Mr Williams may well be one of those persons.”

It also emerged a homemade video showing Mr Williams naked except for black leather boots in which he “wiggles and girates” with his back to the camera was on one of his iPhones.

Evidence of visits to bondage and fetish websites were also found on his phones and lap tops.

Web records also showed he once searched for bondage sites and watched a YouTube video after typing "dress bondage training".

Pages from 2008 showed he may have looked at sites relating to "hogtie", a bondage method of tying the limbs together.

His last internet activity was during the early hours of Monday August 16, a week before his body was discovered, and one of his phone had had its factory settings restored - the equivalent of wiping a hard drive.

The phone was backed up on August 15th but it is not known when it was reset.

The hearing continues.