Telegraph : MI6 spy Gareth Williams may have locked himself in bag, pathologist suggests

MI6 spy Gareth Williams may have locked himself in bag, pathologist suggests

MI6 spy Gareth Williams may have locked himself in the sports holdall in which he was found dead in his flat, a pathologist who examined his body has suggested.

By Murray Wardrop | May 24, 2012

Dr Richard Shepherd said the theory that the 31-year-old died after locking himself inside the bag should be re-examined after an Army veteran and a journalist appeared to demonstrate it is possible.

The question was central to the inquest into his death. However, coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox concluded that on the "balance of probabilities" Mr Williams was unlawfully killed by a mysterious third party after experts claimed even world-famous escapologist Harry Houdini "would have struggled" to squeeze himself into the North Face holdall.

Earlier this month, Jim Fetherstonhaugh, a retired sergeant in the Royal Artillery, and journalist Claire Hayhurst carried out experiments which appeared to show Mr Williams could have acted alone.

Dr Shepherd described their successful attempts to carry out the same feat as “significant” and said he had always believed that Mr Williams’s death may have occurred during a bizarre game.

The pathologist, who carried out a third post mortem examination of the spy’s body, said: “I think it brings once again to the fore the possibility that this was a solitary act by Gareth.

“From my point of view as I look across the deaths associated with sexual asphyxias this is one that fits quite neatly within that group of practice, bizarre though it is.

“Certainly, I think this is a significant bit of evidence, which, if shown to be correct does need to be brought again into consideration.”

Mr Williams, a maths prodigy, was on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ when his body was found in August 2010. His badly decomposed remains were nside the bag which was placed in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, west London.

The inquest heard that two experts had tried in vain more than 400 times to lock themselves inside an identical holdall

Peter Faulding, a former Parachute Regiment reservist and expert in confined rescues, said he tried 300 times to lock himself inside the 81cm by 48 cm holdall but failed every time.

He told the inquest: “I can't say it was impossible but I think I even Houdini would struggle with that one. My personal belief is that it could not be done."

William MacKay and a colleague tried and failed 100 times but said he could not rule out that a genius might have managed it.

But Mr Fetherstonhaugh, 49, discovered a method by which a holdall can be zipped up and locked from the inside without assistance.

He got his 16-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old female journalist to test the theory and found both managed to lock themselves inside a bag ths same as that in which Mr Williams's body was found.

However, Mr Faulding today dismissed the claims, telling the BBC: “None of my conclusions are wrong. A young girl zipping a bag doesn’t discredit this inquiry whatsoever.

“We were fully aware of other methods of being able to lock the bag but she or nobody could achieve it without leaving her DNA or trace on the bath and that’s the key to this.”

Mr Fetherstonhaugh's technique is the reverse of a well-known trick used by airport thieves to steal from locked bags, as long as they are flexible and the sides can be pinched together.

His daughter Izzy, who at 5ft 5ins was 3ins shorter than Mr Williams, easily fitted inside the bag in the foetal position before partially closing it.

She drew her legs up to her body and was able to draw the two zip pulls together while leaving a gap for her hands to protrude through and close the padlock.

She then tensed her body and the zip simply sealed itself leaving her successfully shut inside the bag holding the key to the padlock.

But crucially, the procedure is said to be much easier in a bath where the occupant of the bag can push against the sides for assistance.

Mr Fetherstonhaugh, of Shrewton, Wilts, said of Mr Faulding’s attempts: "The man on TV tried it 300 times and I was amazed he couldn't do it.

"I've told my friends and show them and their jaws drops - it is so obvious, maybe people are thinking too much into it.”

To test his technique Claire Hayhurst, a reporter for South West News, who is 5' 4" tall and of slight build similar to Mr Williams, zipped herself into the bag without assistance.

She repeated the task a number of times on video and was eventually able to do it in less than three minutes.