Wales Online : MI6 spy Gareth Williams killed by foreign agents, claims security expert

MI6 spy Gareth Williams killed by foreign agents, claims security expert

Darren Devine | May 4, 2012

Welsh spy Gareth Williams was murdered by a foreign power because his appetite for bizarre sex games made him a soft target for blackmailers, a security expert claims.

Professor Anthony Glees believes Mr Williams was probably killed after either passing on or refusing to divulge secrets to foreign spies.

An inquest into his death heard how he once had to be rescued by his landlady after tying himself to a bed in an incident she believed was “sexual”.

Prof Glees, head of the Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, said: “It was clear that there was a connection between his private life and the work he was doing being used to effectively blackmail him.

“In other words, it was always possible that the bizarre and unusual sexual interests he was developing had been communicated to a hostile intelligence service.

“It was entirely unintentional, but they got to know of it and encouraged him. He was killed either because he had not given them what they wanted or he had given them what they wanted and they wanted to make sure they left no tracks.”

Mr Williams was found padlocked inside a holdall in the bath at his London flat - coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said it was highly unlikely he got in the bag alone.

Professor Glees has previously said he believes Iranian or Russian spies would have been most likely to target 31-year-old Mr Williams.

In her narrative verdict coroner Dr Wilcox said Mr Williams, from Valley, near Holyhead on Anglesey, was probably the victim of a “criminally mediated” unlawful killing in which poison may have been used.

Dr Wilcox also said it “remained a legitimate line of inquiry” that the secret services may have been involved in the death of the GCHQ code breaker.

But she said “there was no evidence to support” that Williams, who was on secondment to MI6, died at the hands of spies.

Prof Glees also said nine memory sticks found among Mr Williams’ personal possessions at his office in Vauxhall Cross, London, lend weight to the idea the spy was murdered.

He said: “You wouldn’t expect to get a memory stick out of MI6 or MI5 or GCHQ and Gareth must have known that.

“However to have those sticks was highly irregular and because he was clearly taking risks maybe he was thinking about taking the risk of taking stuff out of MI6.”

The failure of MI6 to hand over the memory sticks to the police was the subject of criticism by the coroner, who accused the security services of hampering the investigation.

MI6 were also criticised for waiting a week before raising the alarm over the spy’s disappearance.

But terrorism expert Michael Burleigh believes the explanation for Mr Williams’ death in August 2010 is more straightforward.

The author of Blood And Rage: A Cultural History Of Terrorism, believes the spy died after a sex game went wrong.

He said the lack of hand or footprints in Mr Williams’ bathroom suggests he got into the bag voluntarily.

Mr Burleigh said part of the game may have involved the others leaving the flat while Mr Williams tried to get out of the bag.

Scientists found traces of "at least" two unknown people in his upmarket London apartment despite evidence Mr Williams rarely invited people over.

The author, who believes Mr Williams was too junior a spook interest a foreign power, said: “I think it’s very likely to be sexual and I think the most plausible explanation, given that he didn’t leave prints on the bath, was that somebody was involved in whatever he was doing.

“I think whoever he was doing this with went away and probably thought he’s got a key in the bag. They went away and maybe panicked and came back and found him dead.

“I don’t believe he was killed and put in the bag because dead bodies are extremely heavy and inert and because of rigor mortis it’s virtually impossible to make them flexible.”