Gloucestershire Echo : Claims Gareth Williams could have locked himself in bag

Claims Gareth Williams could have locked himself in bag

December 28, 2012

SPY Gareth Williams did lock himself inside a holdall – according to reports from investigators.

Scotland Yard detectives reportedly think the GCHQ codebreaker, who was on secondment with MI6, must have climbed inside the sports bag, where his naked body was found, rather than been assassinated.

Mr Williams' body was found curled up inside the padlocked red North Face holdall in the empty bathtub of his apartment in Pimlico, central London, in August 2010.

The keys to the padlock were also found inside the bag.

An inquest in May concluded the 31-year-old had most likely been poisoned or had suffocated.

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox said she was sure someone else had locked Mr Williams in the holdall after two experts tried 400 times to lock themselves inside the bag.

One claimed even Harry Houdini "would have struggled" to squeeze himself into the holdall.

But days after the inquest verdict, a retired army sergeant showed how it was possible to climb into a similar bag and lock it from inside.

Following the inquest ruling, Scotland Yard's murder squad vowed to investigate new evidence.

A report by The Daily Telegraph said detectives had now concluded that he probably died alone and were preparing to present their new findings to the coroner.

It also said they believed the "only explanation left" was that Mr Williams died as a result of "autoerotic activity".

A spokeswoman for Scotland Yard said: "This remains an active investigation and officers continue to explore lines of enquiry.

"Officers remain open-minded in relation to the circumstances of the death of Mr Williams."