Mirror : Gareth Williams' family slams MI6 for failing to check welfare of spy-in-a-bag

Gareth Williams' family slams MI6 for failing to check welfare of spy-in-a-bag

The codebreaker's grieving family say more should have been done by MI6 when he failed to show up for work

November 13, 2013

The family of 'spy-in-a-bag' Gareth Williams have hit out at MI6's "lack of concern" for his welfare after a police investigation found his death was most likely an accident.

The 31-year-old codebreaker's body was found locked in a sports holdall in the bathtub of his flat in central London in August 2010.

A coroner initially ruled his death was murder, but a Metropolitan Police investigation found the maths genius probably locked himself inside the bag and died accidentally.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt revealed that his team disagree with the conclusion of a coroner last year that the codebreaker was more likely to have been murdered.

He said: "With the conclusion of the investigation, the Metropolitan Police's position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.

"But the reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding."

The senior officer said the 31-year-old's death was "most probably" an accident, but admitted: "No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt."

Following the verdict, Mr Williams's family released a statement slamming MI6 for their failure to make "basic inquiries concerning Gareth's welfare".

The statement read: "We are naturally disappointed that it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died, and the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief.

"We note that the investigation has been conducted with further interviews upon some of the witnesses who gave evidence at the inquest, and that the investigation team were at last able to interview directly members of GCHQ and SIS.

"We consider that on the basis of the facts at present known, the Coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.

"We still, however, remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic inquiries concerning Gareth's welfare when he failed to attend for work on August 16, 2010.

"We believe that if proper steps had been taken in the same manner as any reasonable employer would have undertaken, further information relating to the cause of his death might have become apparent and not have been lost due to the length of time before Gareth's body was found.

"This lack of concern for Gareth's well-being remains an over-riding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother.

"We do not propose to make any further comment now concerning Gareth's death, either personally nor through our legal representatives."