Daily Mail : Search for the new 'C' as MI6 chief steps down: Sir John Sawers to leave post in November after five years in charge

Friday, June 27, 2014

Search for the new 'C' as MI6 chief steps down: Sir John Sawers to leave post in November after five years in charge

* First M16 chief to be chosen from outside the service in 41 years
* Compared to James Bond because of his suave manner and good looks
* Leaves following damaging revelations by Edward Snowden


By Ian Drury | June 27, 2014

The Foreign Office is searching for a new spy chief after it was announced Sir John Sawers, the head of MI6, is stepping down.

The boss of Britain's overseas intelligence services – traditionally known as ‘C’ – will leave the post in November after five years.

Sir John – often compared to James Bond for his suave manner and good looks – had tried to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding MI6 and was its first head to give a public speech.

But his departure comes after a rocky year in which the three British intelligence services – the others are MI5 and GCHQ – were thrown into disarray by CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden's revelations about surveillance.

Only one – Andrew Parker, the director general of the domestic spy agency – will be left. Officials said Sir John’s departure was not linked to the Snowden disclosures.

Sir John was the first MI6 chief to be chosen from outside the service for 41 years.

His appointment was opposed by senior spies who believed it was an attempt by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to increase its influence after the Iraq debacle, when the intelligence agencies claimed Iraq had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.

Sir John, 58, is a career diplomat who has also worked as an envoy in Baghdad and as foreign affairs adviser to former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

But he was no stranger to the world of espionage, having trained with MI6 at the start of his career before joining the FCO.

Last year he told an intelligence committee hearing the Snowden revelations had been very damaging. ‘They have put our operations at risk. It is clear our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al-Qaeda is lapping it up,’ he said.

In 2012, MI6 was also in the spotlight when a coroner criticised spies for hampering the police investigation into the death of Gareth Williams, a GCHQ employee seconded to the agency who was found dead in a holdall in a London flat.

Even though he presided over a secret service, Sir John was accidentally exposed by his wife, Shelley, on the internet shortly after being appointed to the top job.

To the astonishment of spy-watchers, personal photographs posted on Facebook showing the spy chief on a beach in tight-fitting swimming trunks. Other potentially compromising details about where the family live and work, who their friends are and where they spend their holidays were posted.

The names of serving members of MI6 other than its head are secret, so a speculative list of potential successors will not be made public. But one candidate could be Charles Farr, director of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism (OSCT), a close ally of Home secretary Theresa May.

Guardian : MI6 chief Sir John Sawers to step down

Thursday, June 26, 2014

MI6 chief Sir John Sawers to step down

Sawers, the first outsider to be appointed to the role in decades, has been in post since 2009

Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor | June 26, 2014

Sir John Sawers, the head of Britain's overseas intelligence agency MI6, is to stand down in November.

His departure comes after a turbulent year in which the three British intelligence services have been thrown into disarray by Edward Snowden's revelations about surveillance.

Of the three intelligence heads who gave evidence to the parliamentary intelligence committee in November which was dominated by the Snowden controversy, only one will be left – Andrew Parker, the director general of the domestic spy agency MI5.

The Foreign Office announced in January that the head of the surveillance agency GCHQ, Sir Iain Lobban, was to stand down. It was presented as long planned and unconnected to Snowden.

At the intelligence committee hearing, Sawers was critical of Snowden's revelations, claiming they had been very damaging. "They have put our operations at risk. It is clear our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al-Qaida is lapping it up," he said.

Sawers, 58, has been in post since 2009 and has apparently decided that 36 years as a public servant is long enough. He is not planning to take another public service job. Five years in post is about average for MI6 chiefs.

The announcement is being made early to give his successor a chance to take over well before the next year's general election.

The names of serving members of MI6 other than its head are secret, so a speculative list of potential successors will not be made public.

Although he worked for MI6 when young, serving in Yemen and Syria, Sawers spent most of his career as a diplomat working through a series of Foreign Office jobs, including foreign affairs adviser to Tony Blair and ambassador to the United Nations.

He was the first outsider to be appointed to the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, also known as MI6) for decades. His appointment was opposed by senior MI6 officers who saw it as an attempt by the Foreign Office to increase its influence over the intelligence service as a result of the Iraq fiasco. The intelligence agencies claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Sawers tried to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding MI6, and was its first head to give a speech in public. In that speech, in October 2010, he described MI6 as the "secret frontline of national security".

He added: "Secrecy is not a dirty word. Secrecy is not there as a cover-up." MI6 obtained its intelligence from secret agents abroad who risked their lives providing it, he told his audience of editors.

Sawers said torture was "illegal and abhorrent under any circumstances and we have nothing whatsoever to do with it. If we know or believe action by us will lead to torture taking place, we're required by UK and international law to avoid that action. And we do, even though that allows the terrorist activity to go ahead."

He added, however, that if MI6 received credible intelligence that might save lives here or abroad, "we have a professional and moral duty to act on it".

But a year later he was confronted with clear evidence that in 2004, before his time as head of the agency, MI6 was directly involved in the rendition of two prominent Libyan dissidents to Tripoli where they were tortured by Muammar Gaddafi's secret police. The evidence was laid out in the files of the head of Gaddafi's intelligence service, Moussa Koussa, ransacked after the bombing of Libya in 2011.

In 2012, a coroner rebuked MI6 officers for hampering the police investigation into the death of Gareth Williams, a GCHQ employee seconded to MI6 who was found dead in suspicious circumstances at a London flat.

Daily Post : Gareth Williams: MI6 spy from Anglesey may have been poisoned says detective

Monday, June 23, 2014

Gareth Williams: MI6 spy from Anglesey may have been poisoned says detective

Former Metropolitan Police murder squad detective Colin Sutton has shared his theory on the death of the Anglesey spy found dead in a holdall

By Rhodri Barker | June 23, 2014

A former senior murder squad detective claims an Anglesey spy whose body was found in a holdall may have been poisoned in a “perfect killing”.

The riddle of Gareth Williams’s death appeared resolved last year after a top-level police probe concluded that he probably died alone in an accident.

But former Metropolitan Police murder squad detective Colin Sutton has now challenged that view with a sensational new theory of his own.

Sutton, who was the most senior detective at the scene on the day of the gruesome discovery almost four years ago, revealed he has lingering doubts about the code-breaker’s death.

His view chimes with that of Westminster coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox, who recorded two years ago that Mr Williams was unlawfully killed. Her verdict was later overturned.

Police broke into Mr Williams’s flat in Pimlico in London in August 2010, and found his decomposing remains in a red bag padlocked from the outside.

Mr Sutton has now voiced fears that the flat may well have been "cleaned" of all incriminating traces while any poison in Mr Williams’s system may have been impossible to detect by then.

“The first thing that struck me was how hot it was. It was August yet the heating was on full blast,” he said, recalling arriving on the scene on the day of the discovery.

“It made me think immediately that the heating could have been left on to accelerate the decomposition of Gareth's body.

“If he had been poisoned then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology tests were conducted.”

He added: "There is also the possibility that something very unusual and hard to detect was used to poison Gareth. It may seem far fetched but we know that Alexander Litvinenko was killed four years earlier in London with a rare radioactive isotope.

“I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. That may have been to protect national security - or it might have been something more sinister. If that is the case, then it could have been the perfect murder."

Mr Williams, from Valley in Anglesey, was a maths PhD graduate who began working at GCHQ in Cheltenham in 2001.

Western Daily Press : Detective Colin Sutton thinks GCHQ worker Gareth Williams was drugged

Monday, June 23, 2014

Detective Colin Sutton thinks GCHQ worker Gareth Williams was drugged

By JEFF WELLS | June 23, 2014

GCHQ worker Gareth Williams could have been poisoned, a retired murder squad detective has said.

The MI6 codebreaker's body was found in a large hold-all in the bath of his flat in Alderney Street in Pimlico, London, in August, 2010.

The bag was locked, from the outside.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was the most senior officer on the scene and he told The Sun newspaper that the flat was unusually warm when he arrived.

He claimed the heating was turned up to the maximum, possible to help with decomposition.

He said: "If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted."

According to Mr Sutton if some unusual form of poison had been used it would have been difficult to detect. He added: "I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. That may have been to protect national security or it might have been something more sinister. If that's the case, then it could have been the perfect murder."

Last year, the Metropolitan Police issued a report following further inquiries into Dr Williams' death which concluded that he was probably alone when he died.

Previously an inquest had decided that another person or persons were probably involved, as the mathematician was found locked, from the outside, in the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else's hands.

She concluded: "The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.

"I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully."

Dr Williams was coming to the end of a three-year secondment to MI6 in London in August 2010, when he was reported missing by GCHQ, just days before he was due to return to Cheltenham.

Dr Williams, who rented a flat in Bouncers Lane, Cheltenham, for many years and was a keen cyclist and member of Cheltenham and County Cycle Club, was originally from North Wales.

His family have said they believed the coroner's view "accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.

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

"This lack of concern for Gareth's wellbeing remains an overriding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother."

Daily Mail : MI6 spy whose body was found stuffed in a bag 'was poisoned', says first murder squad detective on the scene

Saturday, June 21, 2014

MI6 spy whose body was found stuffed in a bag 'was poisoned', says first murder squad detective on the scene

* Gareth Williams was found locked in a sports bag in his flat in August 2010
* Retired DCI Colin Sutton said the spy's death could be the 'perfect murder'
* Police claim Mr Williams' most likely died after locking himself in the bag


By Darren Boyle | June 21, 2014

A retired murder squad detective who attended the scene of 'body in the bag spy' Gareth Williams said he believed the MI6 man could have been poisoned.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was the most senior officer on the scene when he arrived at Mr Williams' flat in Pimlico on August 23, 2010.

An inquest at Westminster Coroner Court found Mr Williams was most likely 'unlawfully killed', but police officially believe the spy died after padlocking himself inside the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else's hands.

She concluded: 'The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.'

However, speaking about the case, former DCI Sutton told The Sun he thought the flat was unusually warm when he arrived, claiming the heating was turned up to its maximum setting, possibly to assist with decomposition.

He said: 'If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.'

The inquest had heard that there had been significant delays between the report of Mr Williams' disappearance and the eventual discovery of his body in his flat, leading to fears of a possible cover up.

According to Mr Sutton if some unusual form of poison had been used it would have been difficult to detect.

He added: 'I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. that may have been to protect national security or it might have been something more sinister. If that's the case, then it could have been the perfect murder.'

Scotland Yard chiefs said they thought Gareth Williams died alone – but were forced to admit that gaps in the evidence made it impossible to be sure.

His furious parents rejected that verdict and said they stood by a coroner’s ruling that the brilliant codebreaker was probably killed unlawfully. They also accused MI6 of allowing the circumstances of his death to be covered up.

The body of the 31-year-old lay undiscovered in a red holdall in the bath of his Pimlico flat for a week before security service bosses raised the alarm. Significantly, ten to 15 DNA traces found in the apartment are still unidentified, despite the efforts of leading forensic experts.

Police have also been unable to explain why his DNA was not on the lock on the bag and his prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

In a statement, Mr Williams’ parents Ian and Ellen said: ‘We are naturally disappointed 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 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.’

‘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.’

Mr Williams’ naked body was found on August 23, 2010.

Dr Wilcox said it ‘remained a legitimate line of inquiry’ that the secret services may have been involved – and Mr Williams was probably killed unlawfully by a third party.

But Martin Hewitt, a deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police, insisted his investigation showed Mr Williams probably locked himself inside the bag without help.

He admitted however that ‘evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding’ meant no theory – police or coroner’s – could be proved ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’.

Scotland Yard accepted that its investigation had been flawed from the outset.

Detectives were unable to access the spy’s personnel and vetting files and formally interview GCHQ and MI6 staff until after the inquest because all liaison with MI6 was carried out through the counter-terrorism squad.

But Mr Hewitt said it was ‘beyond credibility’ that the secret services had covered up the death.

‘I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes,’ he said. ‘I believe that what we are dealing with is a tragic unexplained death.

‘I am absolutely satisfied that every question we have had to ask has been asked, and every person we felt it necessary to talk to we have spoken to.

‘No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth’s death beyond all reasonable doubt.

‘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. I’m convinced that Gareth’s death was in no way related to his work.’

Mr Hewitt added: ‘We didn’t get it right at the beginning and the way that we did it was cumbersome and didn’t allow us to do the investigation in the way that we wanted to.

'We recognised that fact and we changed it fundamentally for the subsequent two years of the investigation. I don’t think that process stopped us getting any evidence that we needed to get.’

'Three years of extensive investigative activity have developed a very clear profile of Gareth. He was, without doubt, a private person who was very close to his family and had few other close friends.

'That said, the universal view of colleagues was of a conscientious and decent man with a few well-known hobbies such as his cycling and climbing. There is no evidence of any animosity towards Gareth, and it has not been possible to identify anyone with a motive for causing him harm.'

The investigation included interviews with 27 officials from both MI6 and GCHQ, from where Mr Williams, who was originally from Anglesey, had been seconded.

Police said that Dr Wilcox has accepted their findings, but decided that there is insufficient new evidence to justify re-opening the inquest.

Gloucestershire Echo : GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams 'could have been poisoned' says former murder squad detective

Saturday, June 21, 2014

GCHQ codebreaker Gareth Williams 'could have been poisoned' says former murder squad detective

By Gloucestershire Echo | June 21, 2014

GCHQ worker Gareth Williams could have been poisoned, a retired murder squad detective has said.

The MI6 codebreaker’s body was found in a large hold-all in the bath of his flat in Alderney Street in Pimlico, London, on August 23, 2010.

The bag was locked, from the outside.

Former Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton was the most senior officer on the scene and he told The Sun newspaper that the flat was unusually warm when he arrived.

He claimed the heating was turned up to the maximum, possible to help with decomposition.

He said: “If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.”

According to Mr Sutton if some unusual form of poison had been used it would have been difficult to detect.

He added: “I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. that may have been to protect national security or it might have been something more sinister. If that’s the case, then it could have been the perfect murder.”

Last year, the Metropolitan Police issued a report following further inquiries into Dr Williams’ death which concluded that he was probably alone when he died.

Previously an inquest had decided that another person or persons were probably involved, as the mathematician was found locked, from the outside, in the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else’s hands.

She concluded: “The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated. I am therefore satisfied that on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.”

Dr Williams was coming to the end of a three-year secondment to MI6 in London in August 2010, when he was reported missing by GCHQ, just days before he was due to return to Cheltenham.

Dr Williams, who rented a flat in Bouncers Lane for many years and was a keen cyclist and member of Cheltenham and County Cycle Club, was originally from North Wales.

His family have said they believed the coroner’s view “accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth’s death.

“We remain very disappointed over the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic of enquiries concerning Gareth’s welfare when he failed to attend for work on 16th August 2010.

“This lack of concern for Gareth’s wellbeing remains an overriding feature of our thoughts following the death of a dear son and brother.”

Mirror : MI6 spy found dead in a bag 'may have been poisoned' says retired detective

Saturday, June 21, 2014

MI6 spy found dead in a bag 'may have been poisoned' says retired detective

By Alex Wellman | June 21, 2014

Gareth Williams' decomposed body was found inside a padlocked bag inside his London home in a case which has still not been solved

The MI6 spy who was found dead in a bag may have been poisoned, says the first detective to arrive on the scene.

Mystery has surrounded the death of British spook Gareth Williams ever since his body was found inside a padlocked bag in his central London flat in 2010.

Conspiracy theories have swirled around ever since but the most senior detective who was on the scene on the day Gareth’s body was found fears it could have been poisoning.

Retired murder squad detective Colin Sutton revealed that when he first entered the flat he was struck by how hot it was.

This made him think the heating could have been left on to speed up decomposition of the body.

He said: “If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.”

Speaking to The Sun, he added that with the deaths of Alexander Litvinenko and Georgi Markov, there are previous examples of spies being poisoned.

He said: “If the motive for Gareth’s death was around his job then poison become much more likely.”

The claims tie in with a coroner’s inquest into the death which said he was “unlawfully killed” but are in stark contrast to a police review which said the spy – who had a wardrobe full of women’s clothes - may have died in a lone sex game.

Independent : Top detective claims British spook found dead in padlocked bag could have been poisoned

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Top detective claims British spook found dead in padlocked bag could have been poisoned

Senior officer who was first on the scene claims Gareth Williams was poisoned and left to rot in a bag in an over-heated room

Tom Payne | June 21, 2014

An MI6 spy whose decomposed body was found in a padlocked bag could have been poisoned, a senior detective on the scene has claimed.

The death of British spook Gareth Williams has been steeped in mystery ever since his body was found locked inside a North Face bag in a flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010.

The coroner found that Mr Williams’ death was likely to have been “criminally mediated” on the balance of probabilities, but was unable to provide definitive answers as to the cause.

Speaking to The Sun today, Colin Sutton, a retired murder squad detective, revealed how the spook’s flat was very hot when officers first broke in.

He suggested that the heating could have been left on to speed up the decomposition of the body.

He said: “If he had been poisoned, then the chemical compounds might have vanished by the time toxicology results were conducted.

“If the motive for Gareth’s death was around his job then poison become much more likely.”

The fresh claims align with the coroner’s verdict that Mr Williams was “unlawfully killed”.

But they are in stark contrast to a separate police investigation which suggested the spy may have died in a sex game gone wrong.

Telegraph : Spy in a bag: clues to 'perfect murder’

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Spy in a bag: clues to 'perfect murder’

Colin Sutton, a Scotland Yard detective who examined the flat where Gareth Williams was found locked in a holdall, suggests a 'sinister' explanation lies behind MI6 spy's death

By Edward Malnick | June 21, 2014

The MI6 spy found dead in a locked holdall could have been poisoned and his home professionally cleaned to hide crucial evidence in a “perfect murder”, according to a detective who examined the scene.

Colin Sutton, the most senior officer to examine Gareth Williams’s flat on the day his body was discovered, said he was convinced that it had been “tidied up” after his death.

Mr Sutton also suggested in an interview with The Sun that a “very unusual and hard to detect” substance could have been used to poison the 31 year-old.

The intervention by the former Metropolitan Police murder detective is at odds with the force’s official investigation. Detectives had suggested Mr Williams had become trapped in a bag while seeking some sort of sexual gratification.

The naked, decomposing body of Mr Williams, who was on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ, was found in the padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, in August 2010.

Although the inquest into his death ruled that he was “unlawfully killed”, a later police inquiry, which reported in November, concluded that Mr Williams probably got into the bag by himself and died when he could not get out.

There was no evidence of a forced entry or struggle in the flat and suggestions that all DNA and fingerprints had been wiped in a deep clean were a “fallacy”, police said.

However, on Saturday Mr Sutton, a former detective chief inspector, said: “I remain convinced the flat was tidied up after his death. That may have been to protect national security — or it might have been something more sinister.

“If that is the case, then it could have been the perfect murder.

“His phone and sim cards were neatly laid out. It was like they had been put there deliberately for us. My thoughts were some well-educated spy has sacrificed this stuff, hoping that plod would be satisfied with it and not look any further.”

Mr Sutton led the successful investigation into Levi Bellfield, the serial killer who murdered Milly Dowler. He did not work on the Williams investigation after Aug 23, when he examined the flat, but has continued to follow the case.

He said he was concerned that there was a five-hour delay between Mr Williams’s sister – having been unable to reach her brother – raising the alarm with GCHQ, and police being notified by officials.

The time lag gave MI6 “plenty of opportunity to clean up the scene”.

Mr Sutton said the heating had been on “full-blast” when he arrived at Mr Williams’s flat on Aug 23 2010, which he believed could have been deliberate, to speed up decomposition of the body.

He added that any chemical compounds from poisonous substances could have “vanished” by the time his body was tested.

“There is also the possibility that something very unusual and hard to detect could have been used to poison Gareth,” he added.

“It may seem far-fetched, but we know that Alexander Litvinenko was killed four years earlier in London with a rare radioactive isotope, and before that, Georgi Markov was killed by Bulgarian secret-service agents with the tip of a poisoned umbrella.

“If the motive for Gareth’s death was around his job, then poison becomes much more likely.”

Dept Asst Commissioner Martin Hewitt, who led the police investigation into the death, insisted last year that there was no evidence that it was connected to his work.

“I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes. I believe that what we are dealing with is a tragic unexplained death,” he said.

Police, who originally suspected foul play, effectively ended their inquiries into the case last year but said they would keep the case under review.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said that Mr Sutton’s observations about the crime scene would have been reported to his superiors at the time.

“This does not appear to be further evidence that we can act on,” he added.