Holyhead and Anglesey Mail : Spy Gareth Williams probably killed unlawfully but death remains a mystery

Spy Gareth Williams probably killed unlawfully but death remains a mystery

by Owen R Hughes, Bangor and Anglesey Mail | May 9, 2012

THE family of a spy “probably killed unlawfully” said their “grief is exacerbated” by MI6’s failure to raise the alarm after he went missing.

In a statement read out by their solicitor after the inquest, the family of Gareth Williams, from Valley, said they were “extremely disappointed” at the secret services’ “reluctance and failure” to make relevant information available to the inquiry.

They also attacked the “total inadequacies” of the inquiry by Metropolitan Police counter-terror branch SO15 into MI6 and called on Scotland Yard’s chief to look into how the investigation would proceed in light of this.

Reading the statement on behalf of the 31 year old’s parents, Ian and Ellen Williams, and sister Ceri Subbe, lawyer Robyn Williams said: “To lose a son and a brother at any time is a tragedy. To lose a son and brother in such circumstances as have been outlined during the course of this inquest only compounds the tragedy.
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“Our grief is exacerbated by the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic inquiries as to his whereabouts and welfare, which any reasonable employer would have taken.

“We are also extremely disappointed at the reluctance and failure of MI6 to make available relevant information.”

They described the brilliant code-breaker as a “special and adored son and brother” who they missed “every single day”.

Gareth’s naked body was found in a padlocked bag in the bath at his flat in London. He was thought to have been there a week.

He had been seconded to work at the M16 headquarters from GCHQ, the government listening station in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

At the inquest into his death last week, coroner Fiona Wilcox said his death may forever remain a mystery despite a 21 month police probe plagued by blunders.

In a narrative verdict, she said: “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.”

Mr Williams, of Valley, Anglesey, was suffocated by carbon dioxide, possibly as an onset of a short-acting poison, the coroner suggested.

MI6 apologised for failures in raising the alarm about his disappearance earlier as Dr Wilcox said several factors hampered inquiries. Breakdowns in communication by her own coroner’s office in ordering a second post-mortem examination, a DNA mix-up by forensics and late submission of evidence by MI6 to police were singled out.

Dr Wilcox also questioned why details of Mr Williams’s private life – that heaped embarrassment on his family – were leaked to the press.

She found it “highly unlikely” that Mr Williams got inside his North Face holdall alone, saying: “If Gareth had been carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn’t care if he left any foot or fingerprints.”

BBC : Profile: MI6 spy Gareth Williams

Profile: MI6 spy Gareth Williams

May 8, 2012

The inquest into the death of MI6 employee Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a padlocked sports bag in his central London flat in August 2010, found that he was "on the balance of probabilities" unlawfully killed.

But what is known about the 31-year-old code-breaker - described by his family as "a very private person"?

Mr Williams, originally from Holyhead, north Wales, worked as a communications officer at government listening post GCHQ, in Cheltenham, but was on a three-year secondment to MI6 in London.

Police officers went to his MI6-owned top-floor flat at 36 Alderney Street - in a part of Pimlico described by a neighbour as "a very mixed area of bankers and politicians" - on Monday 23 August.

They went there after colleagues contacted the police earlier that day saying they had not seen Mr Williams for at least 10 days.

They found his naked body, which had been padlocked inside a zipped-up large red North Face sports holdall, in the empty bath of an ensuite bathroom of the master bedroom.

Police, who have repeatedly said the death remains "suspicious and unexplained", now believe he died in the early hours of Tuesday 16 August.

Mr Williams, a keen cyclist who often took part in road races and time trials, was brought up on the island of Anglesey and attended Bodedern High School.

A talented pupil, he graduated from Bangor University with a first class degree in maths aged 17 after beginning his university studies while at secondary school.

His maths teacher at Bodedern, Geraint Williams, has praised Gareth as an "exceptional" pupil who was "the best logician" he had met.

"If you explained something once to Gareth he remembered it, you didn't have to explain it again," he said.

"It didn't surprise me at all that he was very interested in codes and ciphers and it didn't really surprise me that he was recruited by GCHQ.

"He was definitely going to go into something like that, with his brain."

'Loving son'

Mr Williams went on to study for a postgraduate certificate in mathematics at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, in 2000, but dropped out a year later before taking up the job at GCHQ in Cheltenham.

His boss there has spoken of him as a "world-class" intelligence officer and "something of a prodigy".

Stephen Gale said it was "quite remarkable" that Mr Williams - who joined GCHQ aged 21 - had achieved what he had at such a young age.

Mr Gale said: "Colleagues recall a young man who was very close to his father - he spoke about their climbing trips together.

"They remember him as a keen cyclist. One colleague said it was like a red bullet flying around the place."

In the days after his death, his family described Mr Williams in a statement as a "generous, loving son, brother, and friend" whose loss had devastated them.

They remembered him as "a great athlete" who "loved cycling and music", and as "a very private person".

He often returned home to Anglesey to mother Ellen and father Ian, who works at the Wylfa Nuclear Power Station.

Keith Thompson, of Holyhead Cycling Club - joined by Mr Williams at the age of 17 - said he had last seen the "lovely young man" at a club meeting on Boxing Day.

"We were club mates but Gareth wasn't the sort to go to the pub after a race, so he didn't have any close friends in the group," he said.

And a cyclist at Cambridge University's bicycle club described Mr Williams as "a shy chap" with a "peculiarly memorable laugh and smile".

Mr Williams' uncle, Anglesey councillor William Hughes, meanwhile, said his "very talented" nephew "would never talk about his work - and the family knew not to ask, really".

A neighbour in Pimlico said he and others had never seen Mr Williams, adding: "It's not like you'd tell your neighbours if you were a spy."

Police 'did wrong'

In late December 2010, police revealed some "embarrassing, hurtful and distressing" details about Mr Williams which they said was necessary in the search for evidence.

They said he owned £15,000-worth of unworn women's designer clothing, which were kept in six boxes at his flat, and that he had visited a drag cabaret in east London four days before his death and had tickets to two more.

Police said he occasionally spent between 30 minutes and an hour on bondage sites.

They also said a witness had reported seeing him in a gay bar but that they did not know for certain he was gay.

However, in April 2011 Mr Williams' close friend Sian Lloyd-Jones questioned suggestions his death was linked to his private life and called on police to broaden their inquiry.

She told the police "did wrong" by releasing information about women's clothing "but didn't reveal that there was £10,000 of mountaineering equipment as well".

Ms Lloyd-Jones said he was not gay and the women's clothes were too small for him and may have been intended for her or her sister.

Elizabeth Guthrie - the second friend to appear before the coroner - described her friendship with Mr Williams as based on their mutual love of history, art, Japanese Manga cartoons, travel and humorous anecdotes.

Ms Guthrie remembered his "brilliant sense of humour" and "enormous intellect".

She also said the women's clothing found by police "certainly would not be for him" - that he had no interest in cross-dressing and she believed he was "straight".

Mr Williams' sister, Ceri Subbe, said she believed the items of women's clothing were possibly intended as gifts.

She also told the inquest her brother's enthusiasm about his job had begun to fade.

"He disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race. He even spoke of friction in the office," her statement said.

Ms Subbe added that Mr Williams had "encountered more red tape than he was comfortable with" in his role.

The inquest into the death of the MI6 officer later heard he was once found tied to his bed by his former landlady in Cheltenham.

Jennifer Elliot said she once found him tied to his bedstead in his boxer shorts in what she thought was a "sexually motivated" act. She said he had called for help when he could not untie himself.

'Dark arts'

Mr Williams returned to his flat - half a mile from MI6 headquarters on the banks of the River Thames - on Wednesday 11 August 2010 after a fly-drive holiday to the west coast of the US.

Police say he had been shopping in London's West End and Knightsbridge areas a number of times since then.

CCTV images captured on Saturday 14 August showed him entering Holland Park tube station at about 1500 BST.

On Sunday 15 August, he went to Harrods after visiting a cash machine and, at about 1430 BST, CCTV images showed him in Hans Crescent, heading towards Sloane Street, near the Dolce & Gabbana store.

A post-mortem examination and toxicology tests - which found no trace of drugs, alcohol or poison - and the police investigation have all failed to establish a cause of death.

Police believe that Mr Williams, whose family think may have been killed by an agent "specialising in the dark arts of the secret services", was helped into the bag.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said it was unlikely he got into the bag by himself but doubted his death would ever be explained.

Western Morning News : Riddle over death of MI6 spy may never be solved

Riddle over death of MI6 spy may never be solved

May 3, 2012

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams was probably killed but the "spy in the bag" case might never be solved after mistakes by investigators, an inquest has heard.

Mr Williams's relatives attacked failures by secret services and police after a coroner ruled "many agencies fell short" in their investigation of the holdall death riddle.

Fiona Wilcox said she was sure a third party locked the 31-year-old mathematics prodigy inside the red holdall, probably while he was still alive.

She criticised the 21-month investigation, saying it was unlikely the mystery "will ever be satisfactorily explained".

"The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she said during a two-hour narrative verdict at Mr Williams's inquest.

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

As the eight-day hearing ended, relatives spoke out for the first time about their grief being "exacerbated" by MI6's "reluctance and failure" to assist the police inquiry.

In a statement read out by their solicitor, they said they were "extremely disappointed" at "total inadequacies" in the inquiry.

Scotland Yard vowed to explore new evidence that has come to light, while Sir John Sawers, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, apologised "unreservedly" for delays in raising the alarm about the death.

Mr Williams, a fitness enthusiast originally from Anglesey, North Wales, was found naked, curled up in the padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23, 2010.

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 32-inch by 19-inch bag. The coroner agreed that Mr Williams was suffocated by carbon dioxide, possibly as an onset of a short-acting poison.

She dismissed speculation that Mr Williams died as a result of some kind of "auto-erotic activity", also denying there was any evidence to suggest claustrophilia – the love of enclosed spaces – was of any interest to him.

His sister, Ceri Subbe, looked on as Dr Wilcox told a packed Westminster Coroner's Court that it "remained a legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services may have been involved in the death. But she said "there was no evidence to support" that he died at the hands of spies.

Despite a 21-month police inquiry and seven days of evidence, "most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered", she said.

Dr Wilcox said several factors hampered inquiries, including breakdowns in communication by her own coroner's office, a DNA mix-up by forensics and the late submission of evidence by MI6 to police. She went on to question why details of Mr Williams's private life were leaked to the press. The coroner ruled out Mr Williams's interest in bondage and drag queens as having any bearing on the death, before adding: "I wonder if this was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence."

Dr Wilcox found it "highly unlikely" that Mr Williams died alone.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, said the inquest had raised "several new lines of inquiry and the investigation will now refocus and actively pursue all the evidence heard and all the new lines of inquiry".

ITV : Williams inquest: 'He was unhappy in London' says sister

Williams inquest: 'He was unhappy in London' says sister

May 3, 2012

Spy Gareth Williams didn't enjoy his life in London and complained of "friction" at MI6 before he was found dead in a sports holdall, his family said today.

Cycling enthusiast Mr Williams was due to return to the West Country a week after he was found dead because he hated the "rat race" and the "flash car competitions", sister Ceri Subbe said.

She told the inquest into his death she did not believe Mr Williams would let a potential killer in his upmarket London flat, adding: "I cannot emphasise enough his conscientiousness".

MI6 were "dragging their feet" in approving his request in April 2010 to return to GCHQ's Gloucestershire HQ, she added.

Her statement added: "He disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race. He even spoke of friction in the office."

Explaining her comment, Ms Subbe added: "The job was not quite what he expected. He encountered more red tape than he was comfortable with."

Ms Subbe was asked about £20,000 of women's clothes which were found in his flat after he died. She said it was "not particularly" surprising, adding that they were "possibly as a gift".

In a statement read out earlier, Ms Subbe said: "In terms of a big brother figure, Gareth was perfect."

She added: "It's impossible to do justice to Gareth's impressive character without meeting him."

Ms Subbe told how she "had a truly magical time" during her last meeting with Mr Williams for "dainty finger sandwiches" at the Ritz hotel.

"As a family we were incredibly close," her statement said.

The naked and decomposing body of Mr Williams, 31, was found in the bath of his home in Pimlico, west London, on August 23 2010.

Express : CORONER: MI6 AGENT MAY HAVE KILLED SPY IN BAG

CORONER: MI6 AGENT MAY HAVE KILLED SPY IN BAG

Cyril Dixon | May 3, 2012

MI6 SPY Gareth Williams was “unlawfully killed” by a mystery intruder who locked him naked inside a holdall and placed it in his bath, an inquest ruled yesterday.
Westminster Coroner Fiona Wilcox concluded that another person was at the flat and played a part in his bizarre death.

And, in an unexpected verdict, she said it was a “legitimate line of inquiry” that the killer was a fellow member of the secret service.

At the end of the eight-day hearing, the family of Mr Williams attacked his MI6 bosses for making their ordeal worse with a “reluctance and failure” to investigate properly.

Meanwhile, spy chief Sir John Sawers admitted his staff’s failings and issued an unreserved public apology for adding to the family’s “anguish and suffering”.

Last night Dr Wilcox’s inquest verdict was interpreted as a veiled ruling that the 31-year-old codebreaker had been murdered.

She said: “I am satisfied so I am sure that a third party placed the bag in the bath and, on the balance of probabilities, locked the bag.

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

She also said the mystery would probably not be “satisfactorily explained” because of flaws in the 21-month investigation.

The inquest heard the body of Mr Williams was found at his flat in Pimlico, central London, a week after he failed to turn up for a meeting at MI6 headquarters.

He was left in the North Face sports holdall in the foetal position, with the bag locked from the outside and the padlock keys inside with him.

Police found £20,000 worth of women’s designer clothes, shoes and wigs inside the top-floor apartment – most of which were unworn, some still in their packaging.

Dr Wilcox ruled that Mr Williams must have been poisoned or suffocated before being left in the bag, then died from an excess of carbon dioxide in his blood.

In a statement, his parents Ian and Ellen, and sister Ceri Subbe, who attended the inquest throughout, attacked MI6 bungling.

It read: “To lose a son and a brother at any time is a tragedy. To lose a son and brother in such circumstances as have been outlined during the course of this inquest only confounds the tragedy.

“Our grief is exacerbated by the failure of his employers at MI6 to take even the most basic inquiries as to his whereabouts and welfare which any reasonable employer would have taken.”

The family, from Anglesey, North Wales, were “disappointed by the reluctance and failure of MI6” to make relevant information available.

They demanded to know how the Scotland Yard Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, planned to take the investigation into the death of Mr Williams forward after the mistakes revealed by the inquest.

MI6 said in a statement that Sir John Sawers recognised that the lack of urgency “contributed to the anguish and suffering of his family”, adding: “On behalf of the whole organisation, Sir John regrets this deeply and apologises unreservedly.”

Scotland Yard’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said the force had launched a review. Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, the officer leading the investigation, said the inquest had raised several new lines of inquiry and they would “actively pursue all the evidence”.

Chester Chronicle : Coroner rules spy killed by third party

Coroner rules spy killed by third party

May 3, 2012

A HIGH profile inquest involving a Chester barrister has ruled that MI6 code-breaker Gareth Williams was unlawfully killed by a third party “on the balance of probabilities”.

Anthony O’Toole, of Linenhall Chambers, has been representing the Anglesey-based family of Mr Williams whose body was found in a holdall at his London flat in August 2010.

In a sensational narrative verdict, Dr Fiona Wilcox yesterday said a third party was involved in his death and that is was likely to have been “criminally mediated”.

Mr Williams’ family, including his sister and former Chester woman Ceri Subbe, have always suspected third party involvement possibly linked to a secret services agency.

Mrs Subbe worked as a physiotherapist at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital and lived in Brook Lane, Newton, at the time of her brother’s death. Last week she told Westminster Coroner’s Court her sibling was ‘a scrupulous risk-assessor’ who would not have let a potential killer into his flat.

The coroner ruled that because of the lack of evidence she could not return a formal verdict of unlawful killing.

But in her narrative she concluded that he was most probably killed.

She said: “I am satisfied so that I am sure that a third party placed the bag (which contained Gareth) in to the bath and on the balance of probabilities locked the bag.

“The cause of death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.”

Linenhall Chambers has been inundated with media enquiries about the case but barrister Mr O’Toole is not giving interviews.

Big Pond News : Death of spy 'may never be explained'

Death of spy 'may never be explained'

May 3, 2012

It is unlikely the death of a British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a bag in his bath will ever be fully explained, the coroner told the final day of his inquest.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said on Wednesday it was 'unlikely' the circumstances of Gareth Williams' 2010 death 'will ever be satisfactorily explained' given that 'most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered'.

Wilcox said she did not have enough evidence to give a verdict of unlawful killing in the death of Williams, a high-flying codebreaker with the MI6 external intelligence agency, despite a plea from his family's lawyer.

She will instead deliver a narrative verdict, listing the possibilities but failing to reach a conclusion?

Williams' family have previously said they believe secret agents versed in the 'dark arts' tried to cover up his death, while the detective heading the investigation said Tuesday she was convinced someone else was involved.

'My strongest belief is that a third party was involved and I would ask people to search their consciences and come to us to find some resolutions to this case and some peace for his family,' Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said.

The inquest looked into whether Williams could have padlocked himself in the bag alone, after speculation he might have done so as part of a sex game, but one expert said even escapologist Harry Houdini 'would have struggled' to pull off the feat.

Pathologists said Williams likely died from poisoning or suffocation, but decomposition of his body reduced the scope for pinpointing the cause of death.

The spy's employers at MI6 failed to report him missing for a week, the inquest has heard.

Police also told the inquest they had not examined some of Williams' possessions including nine memory sticks because his bosses at MI6 said they were irrelevant.

Police found women's clothing worth about STG20,000 ($A31,545.74) in Williams' flat, while the inquest also heard he visited bondage sites, filmed himself nearly naked, and was once found tied to a bed.

His sister, Ceri Subbe, told the inquest Williams had been unhappy at MI6, where he was seconded from Britain's intelligence monitoring centre.

ninemsn (Au) : MI6 codebreaker 'probably killed'

MI6 codebreaker 'probably killed'

May 3, 2012

MI6 code breaker Gareth Williams was probably killed but the "spy in the bag" case might never be solved after mistakes by investigators, an inquest has heard.

Mr Williams's relatives attacked failures by secret services and police after a coroner ruled "many agencies fell short" in their investigation of the holdall death riddle.

Fiona Wilcox said she was sure a third party locked the 31-year-old mathematics prodigy inside the red holdall, probably while he was still alive.

She criticised the 21-month investigation, saying it was unlikely the mystery "will ever be satisfactorily explained".

"The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she said during a two-hour narrative verdict at Mr Williams's inquest.

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

As the eight-day hearing ended, relatives spoke out for the first time about their grief being "exacerbated" by MI6's "reluctance and failure" to assist the police inquiry.

In a statement read out by their solicitor, they said they were "extremely disappointed" at "total inadequacies" in the inquiry.

Scotland Yard vowed to explore new evidence that has come to light, while Sir John Sawers, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, apologised "unreservedly" for delays in raising the alarm about the death.

Mr Williams, a fitness enthusiast originally from Anglesey, North Wales, was found naked, curled up in the padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23 2010.

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 80 centimetres by 48 centimetres bag.

The coroner agreed that Mr Williams was suffocated by carbon dioxide, possibly as an onset of a short-acting poison.

She dismissed speculation that Mr Williams died as a result of some kind of "auto-erotic activity", also denying there was any evidence to suggest claustrophilia - the love of enclosed spaces - was of any interest to him.

His sister, Ceri Subbe, looked on as Dr Wilcox told a packed Westminster Coroner's Court that it "remained a legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services may have been involved in the death.

But she said "there was no evidence to support" that he died at the hands of spies.

Despite a 21-month police inquiry and seven days of evidence, "most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered", she said.

Dr Wilcox said several factors hampered inquiries, including breakdowns in communication by her own coroner's office, a DNA mix-up by forensics and the late submission of evidence by MI6 to police.

She went on to question why details of Mr Williams's private life were leaked to the press.

The coroner ruled out Mr Williams's interest in bondage and drag queens as having any bearing on the death, before adding: "I wonder if this was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence."

The lack of hand and footprints in the bathroom was "significant", Dr Wilcox said, telling the court: "In relation to the prints found within the bathroom, in my view what was more significant was what was not found rather than what was found."

Dr Wilcox found it "highly unlikely" that Mr Williams died alone, saying: "If Gareth had been carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn't care if he left any foot or fingerprints."

She said the "highly unusual circumstances" of Mr Williams's death immediately raised the possibility of foul play, which had prompted "endless speculation".

But the coroner added that "taking all these shortfalls together, I am satisfied that the evidence is reliable and that we do not have to adjourn at this point".

Revelations that MI6 failed to raise the alarm about his disappearance for more than a week prompted elaborate conspiracy theories about his job and private life.

Several years before his death, Mr Williams tied himself to his bed and had to be cut free by his landlord and landlady.

It also emerged that the bachelor stored STG20,000 ($A31,500)-worth of women's clothes in his immaculate flat and was fascinated by drag queens.

But Dr Wilcox said there was no evidence to suggest the spy was a transvestite "or interested in any such thing".

The make-up found in his flat was more likely to reflect his interest in fashion, she argued.

And the wigs that were found there were "far more consistent with dress-up such as attendance at a manga conference", she added.

There was some suggestion that his interest in female footwear could have been of a sexual nature, but this was not unusual, Dr Wilcox observed.

"Gareth was naked in a bag when he was found, not cross-dressed, not in high-heeled shoes," she said.

Mr Williams would have been unlikely to invite a third party who was not a family member into his home, Dr Wilcox said, adding: "If a third party was present at the time of his death, in my view that third party would have to have been someone he knew or someone who was there without an invitation."

If someone else was there without having been invited, "that raises the possibility of an illegitimate purpose on the third party's part", she said.

"Gareth may have worked out a technique how to get into the bag and lock it from inside, but I find it extremely unlikely that he did so."

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, said the inquest had raised "several new lines of inquiry and the investigation will now refocus and actively pursue all the evidence heard and all the new lines of inquiry".

Scotsman : Gareth Williams profile: Maths genius with a solitary lifestyle

Gareth Williams profile: Maths genius with a solitary lifestyle

May 3, 2012

Gareth Williams crammed his life with secrets – in and out of work.

The 31-year-old excelled as a spy, producing “world-class” code-breaking intelligence for MI6 and the eavesdropping station GCHQ.

Colleagues, friends, family and police queued up to pay tribute to his extraordinary ability, which saw him land a first-class mathematics degree aged 17.

But the teetotal fitness enthusiast lived a solitary personal life that was dramatically removed from the world of espionage.

Police, who painstakingly pieced together his unlikely interests, discovered a fiercely private bachelor fascinated by women’s clothes and drag-queen culture.

He enrolled on a fashion course and collected £20,000 of unworn designer women’s clothing at his pristine flat, including 26 pairs of designer women’s shoes. Small and medium-sized dresses were hung up in his wardrobes, along with women’s wigs, including one Mr Williams had bought on a recent trip to Las Vegas.

Internet searches by Mr Williams and a video taken on his Apple iPhone suggested he wore the shoes.

The flamboyant interests were a far cry from the rigid discipline of work, where he was fast-tracked through the ranks at GCHQ before arriving at MI6 on secondment.

Stephen Gale, his boss at GCHQ’s Cheltenham base, said Mr Williams stunned fellow intelligence specialists with his code-breaking talents when he landed his first job at 21.

He cycled around the Gloucestershire hills “like a red bullet” but won the respect of his colleagues for his “warm smile” and sense of humour under pressure, Mr Gale said. Bosses were so impressed that they paid for him to gain further qualifications in advanced mathematics at Cambridge University.

Mr Williams had won two awards at GCHQ, one for a “Herculean effort” in his top-secret work, Mr Gale added.

But the keen cyclist and fell runner missed the countryside after arriving in London.

Sister Ceri Subbe said: “He disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race. He even spoke of friction in the office.”

Ms Subbe said her brother was immensely close with his family, from Anglesey.

“In terms of a big brother figure, Gareth was perfect,” she said.

“It’s impossible to do justice to Gareth’s impressive character without meeting him.”

Mr Williams and Ms Subbe “had a truly magical time” during their last meeting for “dainty finger sandwiches” at the Ritz hotel, she said.

SMH : MI6 codebreaker 'probably killed'

MI6 codebreaker 'probably killed'

May 3, 2012

MI6 code breaker Gareth Williams was probably killed but the "spy in the bag" case might never be solved after mistakes by investigators, an inquest has heard.

Mr Williams's relatives attacked failures by secret services and police after a coroner ruled "many agencies fell short" in their investigation of the holdall death riddle.

Fiona Wilcox said she was sure a third party locked the 31-year-old mathematics prodigy inside the red holdall, probably while he was still alive.

She criticised the 21-month investigation, saying it was unlikely the mystery "will ever be satisfactorily explained".

"The cause of his death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated," she said during a two-hour narrative verdict at Mr Williams's inquest.

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

As the eight-day hearing ended, relatives spoke out for the first time about their grief being "exacerbated" by MI6's "reluctance and failure" to assist the police inquiry.

In a statement read out by their solicitor, they said they were "extremely disappointed" at "total inadequacies" in the inquiry.

Scotland Yard vowed to explore new evidence that has come to light, while Sir John Sawers, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, apologised "unreservedly" for delays in raising the alarm about the death.

Mr Williams, a fitness enthusiast originally from Anglesey, North Wales, was found naked, curled up in the padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23 2010.

Pathologists said he would have suffocated within three minutes if he was alive when he got inside the 80 centimetres by 48 centimetres bag.

The coroner agreed that Mr Williams was suffocated by carbon dioxide, possibly as an onset of a short-acting poison.

She dismissed speculation that Mr Williams died as a result of some kind of "auto-erotic activity", also denying there was any evidence to suggest claustrophilia - the love of enclosed spaces - was of any interest to him.

His sister, Ceri Subbe, looked on as Dr Wilcox told a packed Westminster Coroner's Court that it "remained a legitimate line of inquiry" that the secret services may have been involved in the death.

But she said "there was no evidence to support" that he died at the hands of spies.

Despite a 21-month police inquiry and seven days of evidence, "most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered", she said.

Dr Wilcox said several factors hampered inquiries, including breakdowns in communication by her own coroner's office, a DNA mix-up by forensics and the late submission of evidence by MI6 to police.

She went on to question why details of Mr Williams's private life were leaked to the press.

The coroner ruled out Mr Williams's interest in bondage and drag queens as having any bearing on the death, before adding: "I wonder if this was an attempt by some third party to manipulate the evidence."

The lack of hand and footprints in the bathroom was "significant", Dr Wilcox said, telling the court: "In relation to the prints found within the bathroom, in my view what was more significant was what was not found rather than what was found."

Dr Wilcox found it "highly unlikely" that Mr Williams died alone, saying: "If Gareth had been carrying out some kind of peculiar experiment, he wouldn't care if he left any foot or fingerprints."

She said the "highly unusual circumstances" of Mr Williams's death immediately raised the possibility of foul play, which had prompted "endless speculation".

But the coroner added that "taking all these shortfalls together, I am satisfied that the evidence is reliable and that we do not have to adjourn at this point".

Revelations that MI6 failed to raise the alarm about his disappearance for more than a week prompted elaborate conspiracy theories about his job and private life.

Several years before his death, Mr Williams tied himself to his bed and had to be cut free by his landlord and landlady.

It also emerged that the bachelor stored STG20,000 ($A31,500)-worth of women's clothes in his immaculate flat and was fascinated by drag queens.

But Dr Wilcox said there was no evidence to suggest the spy was a transvestite "or interested in any such thing".

The make-up found in his flat was more likely to reflect his interest in fashion, she argued.

And the wigs that were found there were "far more consistent with dress-up such as attendance at a manga conference", she added.

There was some suggestion that his interest in female footwear could have been of a sexual nature, but this was not unusual, Dr Wilcox observed.

"Gareth was naked in a bag when he was found, not cross-dressed, not in high-heeled shoes," she said.

Mr Williams would have been unlikely to invite a third party who was not a family member into his home, Dr Wilcox said, adding: "If a third party was present at the time of his death, in my view that third party would have to have been someone he knew or someone who was there without an invitation."

If someone else was there without having been invited, "that raises the possibility of an illegitimate purpose on the third party's part", she said.

"Gareth may have worked out a technique how to get into the bag and lock it from inside, but I find it extremely unlikely that he did so."

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, said the inquest had raised "several new lines of inquiry and the investigation will now refocus and actively pursue all the evidence heard and all the new lines of inquiry".

© 2012 AAP

Sky (Au) : Death of spy 'may never be explained'

Death of spy 'may never be explained'

May 3, 2012

It is unlikely the death of a British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a bag in his bath will ever be fully explained, the coroner told the final day of his inquest.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said on Wednesday it was 'unlikely' the circumstances of Gareth Williams' 2010 death 'will ever be satisfactorily explained' given that 'most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered'.

Wilcox said she did not have enough evidence to give a verdict of unlawful killing in the death of Williams, a high-flying codebreaker with the MI6 external intelligence agency, despite a plea from his family's lawyer.

She will instead deliver a narrative verdict, listing the possibilities but failing to reach a conclusion?

Williams' family have previously said they believe secret agents versed in the 'dark arts' tried to cover up his death, while the detective heading the investigation said Tuesday she was convinced someone else was involved.

'My strongest belief is that a third party was involved and I would ask people to search their consciences and come to us to find some resolutions to this case and some peace for his family,' Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said.

The inquest looked into whether Williams could have padlocked himself in the bag alone, after speculation he might have done so as part of a sex game, but one expert said even escapologist Harry Houdini 'would have struggled' to pull off the feat.

Pathologists said Williams likely died from poisoning or suffocation, but decomposition of his body reduced the scope for pinpointing the cause of death.

The spy's employers at MI6 failed to report him missing for a week, the inquest has heard.

Police also told the inquest they had not examined some of Williams' possessions including nine memory sticks because his bosses at MI6 said they were irrelevant.

Police found women's clothing worth about STG20,000 ($A31,545.74) in Williams' flat, while the inquest also heard he visited bondage sites, filmed himself nearly naked, and was once found tied to a bed.

His sister, Ceri Subbe, told the inquest Williams had been unhappy at MI6, where he was seconded from Britain's intelligence monitoring centre.

Isle of Wight Radio : Coroner To Announce Spy Death Verdict

Coroner To Announce Spy Death Verdict

May 2, 2012

Dr Fiona Wilcox has spent seven days listening to evidence from 39 witnesses.

She has questioned all of those who appeared in person and listened as lawyers for Gareth Williams family, as well as lawyers representing both the Metropolitan Police and MI6 cross examined the witnesses.

Tuesday's evidence included some surprising revelations, including the disclosure that MI6 had failed to pass over some of Mr Williams belongings from his office at MI6.

The officer in charge of the investigation into his death only found out about the existence of some of the items on Tuesday.

"Had I known about their existence, I would have expected them to be disclosed and any relevant information to be sent to my team. I would have expected to have been told," DCI Jackie Sebire told the court.

A senior Metropolitan Police officer also admitted that he had relied on MI6 to decide which of Mr Williams belongings were relevent to the investigation into the death.

Detective Superintendent Michael Broster said that he trusted MI6 to give him all the information he needed.

Responding to that admission, the coroner said: "Shouldn't the investigators be examining the items, not the people providing them?

"I would suggest that you are not being an impartial investigator in this case. An impartial investigator would have seized the items themselves."

The lawyer for Mr Williams family, Anthony O'Toole, put it more directly to Supt Broster.

"If the person who killed Gareth was a member of the Secret Intelligence Service, you did nothing to investigate because you believed that the organisation was trustworthy?"

The wide range of witnesses in this inquest began with Mr Williams sister Ceri Subbe who talked fondly of her brother.

She described him as "a country boy" who had expressed frustration with his secondment from GCHQ in Gloucestershire to MI6 in London.

Friends of Mr Williams also gave evidence. Among them was Sian Jones, a fashion consultant.

"We were childhood sweethearts and I would just say we were very very close." she told the court last week.

She, and other witnesses were asked how they could explain the fact that £20,000 of women's clothes and shoes were found in the flat where Mr Williams body was discovered.

Ms Jones and Ms Subbe both told the inquest that Mr Williams was a very generous man and that the clothes were likely to be gifts. Ms Jones said that he had frequently bought her clothes and handbags.

"He was a truly generous person. It wouldn't surprise me if they were gifts." she said.

His family listened as other uncomfortable details about his private life were discussed. He had visited bondage websites, the court was told, but only on 4 occasions in two years.

The inquest was also told that he had once tied himself to a bed and and had to rely on his landlord to free him.

Mr Williams' professional life was examined in minute detail as well. He was described as a brilliant man, highly intelligent and part of a team whose "Herculean efforts" in cryptology had won departmental awards at GCHQ.

Staff at MI6 gave evidence anonymously from behind a screen. They were pressed on why it took them eight days to report Mr Williams missing.

One MI6 officer, identified only as witness G said he first thought Mr Williams was stuck on a train, then thought perhaps there had been a mix up with holiday.

"In hindsight, knowing what I know now, should I have taken action? Absolutely." witness G said.

Another witness, SIS-F, apologised for Witness G's lack of action.

"SIS are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened. We recognise the delay [of a week] in finding Gareth's body has made it harder to come to terms with his death." SIS-F said.

The delay in reporting him missing made the pathologists work very hard, the court heard. When Mr Williams' body was eventually discovered it was badly decomposed.

The three post mortem examinations could not establish the cause of death. Three pathologists told the inquest that the decomposition hindered their work.

Benjamin Swift, a Home Office pathologist, said that although the cause of death was "unascertained", he believed that poisoning or asphyxiation such as suffocation were "probably rather than possibly" to blame.

The police officer in charge of the investigation said at the start of the inquest that she believed the crux of the case surrounded the bag Mr Williams was found in.

The police still do not know how Mr Williams came to be in that bag. If he was alone, they do not know how he locked it from the outside.

If he was not alone, then who else was there and what motive did they have to kill him?

The police investigation had drawn a succession of blanks.

New evidence heard in this inquest for the first time might help them draw new leads in the coming months.

The police have repeatedly said there is still a chance of the breakthrough they need.

But now it is the turn of coroner Dr Wilcox to deliver her verdict on a case that remains, for now, a mystery.

Telegraph : Family of Gareth Williams call for police review of case

Family of Gareth Williams call for police review of case

The family of Gareth Williams, the MI6 spy found dead in padlocked bag, have called for Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe to review the case in the light of the failings of the counter-terrorism unit SO15.

By Martin Evans and Tom Whitehead | May 2, 2012

In a statement issued shortly after the coroner in the case Dr Fiona Wilcox had delivered her narrative verdict, Mr Williams’s parents Ian and Ellen and sister Ceri, also criticised MI6 for mistakes they had made during the investigation.

The inquest, which lasted eight days, heard how members of SO15 had failed to seize certain items of potentially crucial evidence and had carried out inadequate searches at Mr Williams’ workplace.

His employer had also failed to alert anyone of his disappearance for a week.

The statement, in both Welsh and English, was read outside Westminster Coroner’s Court by the family solicitor Robyn Williams.

He said: “To lose a son and brother at any time is a tragedy. To lose and son and brother in such circumstances as have been outlined here, only compound the tragedy.

“Our grief is exacerbated by the failures of his employers MI6 to make even the most basic of inquiries as to his well being and welfare.”

The statement went on: “We are also extremely disappointed by the failure and reluctance of MI6 to make available relevant information.

“We would call on the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mr Hogan-Howe to look into and review how the investigation will proceed in the light of the total inadequacies of SO15’s investigation into MI6.”

The family also thanked DCI Jackie Sebire who led the police investigation for the thoroughness with which she approached the case.

The statement concluded: “Gareth was and always will be a special and adored son and brother. We miss him every single day and cannot describe the depth of the sorrow his absence leaves in our lives.

"We love you Gareth and will treasure your memory eternally. To live on in the hearts of those you leave behind is not to die.”

This Is London : Profile: MI6 spy Gareth Williams

Profile: MI6 spy Gareth Williams

Paul Cheston | May 2, 2012

Gareth Williams’ life of complexity and contradiction was matched by the mystery of his death.

A brilliant academic prodigy, cherished and honoured as a team man by GCHQ, rejected as an outsider by MI6 colleagues.

“We were very lucky to recruit him”, said Stephen Gale, his former boss at the Government listening post, where he was responsible for “world class work”.

His MI6 line manager could not be bothered to look for him when he went missing.

A cyclist, fell runner, climber and as fit as they come. His family and his closest women friends unhesitatingly considered him straight.

Yet in his spare room, separate from his day clothes he wore to work and social and sporting activities, there was £20,000 of women’s clothing and 26 pairs of women’s shoes and boots.

“For somebody having his rent paid, socialising little and modest in food and drink, it’s possible it would have taken up a large chunk of his salary,” said Mr Gale.

His family insist the clothes were intended as gifts.

But whether they were intended for others or himself, an operational officer in the Special Intelligence Service, even one with such minimal overheads, is less than handsomely paid, despite a 11% pay rise when he transferred from Cheltenham-based GCHQ.

Williams was a hot house academic - a first class honours degree and doctorate by 21 - but also a country boy from North Wales who “longed for the freedom to cycle without running the risk of being run over by a bendy bus,” as his sister Ceri Subbe put it.

He hated the MI6 “culture of post work drinks, flash car competitions, rat race and office friction” and just wanted to go back to Cheltenham and “take his projects with him.”

In scenes closer to Len Deighton’s Harry Palmer than Ian Fleming’s Bond or the Jason Bourne series, he shared with three other colleagues a small 15ft x 12 ft office at Vauxhall Cross with just three tales and four cabinets.

His forte was technology - it was how he won he and his team won GCHQ’s prestigious Mary Church award for significant achievement in cryptic analysis which was awarded to his team in 2009.

Mr Gale spoke of how the director of GCHQ had described “a herculean effort by an extraordinary team.”

MI6 was training Williams to become a support officer to “agents” in the field and, after initial difficulties, he had made impressive strides when he died.

But surely, while he could have been a useful asset if he was turned by a hostile foreign power as a mole in SIS, he was too junior and too far from the frontline to be worth murdering - by either side.

At GCHQ they honoured his memory with a posthumous award for his achievements.

At MI6, where he was never considered one of us, they could not wait to see the back of him.

His friends and sister remembered primarily his kindness, his humour, his intelligence, his loyalty. His line manager at MI6 used similarly warm words, describing him as “a quiet intellectual, very clever at the technical aspects of his job but socially shy and introverted, a very private person”, but in a so-what, almost derogatory sense.

His landlady in Cheltenham, Jennifer Elliot, found him tied to his bedposts in the middle of the night in what she considered some sort of sexual ritual.

“Gareth, we cannot have you doing this,” her husband told him.

But such was the loyalty he engendered, she refused to utter a word about it under a barrage of questions, and money, from Fleet Street reporters, only speaking of it to detectives searching for clues to resolve this inexplicable death.

News 24 (SA) : UK spy death remains a mystery

UK spy death remains a mystery

May 2, 2012

London - It is unlikely the death of a British spy whose naked body was found padlocked in a bag in his bath will ever be fully explained, the coroner told the final day of his inquest on Wednesday.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox said it was "unlikely" the circumstances of Gareth Williams' 2010 death "will ever be satisfactorily explained" given that "most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered".

Wilcox said she did not have enough evidence to give a verdict of unlawful killing in the death of Williams, a high-flying codebreaker with the MI6 external intelligence agency, despite a plea from his family's lawyer.

She will instead deliver a narrative verdict, listing the possibilities but failing to reach a conclusion.

Williams' family have previously said they believe secret agents versed in the "dark arts" tried to cover up his death, while the detective heading the investigation said on Tuesday she was convinced someone else was involved.

"My strongest belief is that a third party was involved and I would ask people to search their consciences and come to us to find some resolutions to this case and some peace for his family," Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire said.

The inquest looked into whether Williams could have padlocked himself in the bag alone, after speculation he might have done so as part of a sex game, but one expert said even escapologist Harry Houdini "would have struggled" to pull off the feat.

Pathologists said Williams probably died from poisoning or suffocation, but decomposition of his body reduced the scope for pinpointing the cause of death.

The spy's employers at MI6 failed to report him missing for a week, the inquest has heard.

Police also told the inquest they had not examined some of Williams' possessions including nine memory sticks because his bosses at MI6 said they were irrelevant.

Police found women's clothing worth about £20 000 in Williams' flat, while the inquest also heard he visited bondage sites, filmed himself nearly naked, and was once found tied to a bed.

His sister, Ceri Subbe, told the inquest Williams had been unhappy at MI6, where he was seconded from Britain's intelligence monitoring centre.

- SAPA

Telegraph : Gareth Williams verdict: the case reviewed

Gareth Williams verdict: the case reviewed

It could have been straight out of a crime novel: the secretive world of spies, a bizarre unexplained death, a police puzzle and wild goose chases and a hidden life of womens’ clothing and bondage websites. But for the death of MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams, it was very much a case of fact being stranger than fiction.

By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | May 2, 2012

From the moment his naked, decomposing body was discovered in a padlocked sports bag in a bath in August 2010 the mysterious death grabbed the public attention and fuelled an army of conspiracy theories.

Over eight extraordinary days at Westminster Coroners’ Court, involving more than 40 witnesses including anonymous spies speaking from behind a screen, an incredible story emerged, albeit one that asks more questions than it answers.

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox vowed to carry out a “full, fair and fearless” inquiry to determine how Gareth came to die and whether sinister forces had a hand.

What followed was an unending series of twists and turns and unprecedented scenes of men trying to lock themselves in to hold alls, potential evidence emerging 20 months after his death and accusations of cosy relationships between senior police officers and MI6.

And at the heart of it was a family devastated by grief, stunned by a secret life they never knew, determined for answers and traumatised by an apparent disregard for their son’s wellbeing.

The death

The body of Mr Williams was discovered naked, in a foetal position in a padlocked North Face hold all measuring just 81cm by 48cm.

It was found in the bath of the Pimlico flat in London where he lived alone while on secondment to MI6 from GCHQ on August 23, 2010.

When found it had been sitting there for a week and was badly decomposed.

Because of the sensitive nature of his job a convoluted police investigation began.

Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire led the Met team investigating the death. But because neither she nor her officers were suitably cleared for national security data, officers from the Met’s counter terrorism unit acted a conduit between her and MI6.

His last known activity was browsing a cycling website in the early hours of Monday August 16.

The secret life

A hidden life of Mr Williams also emerged during the painstaking investigation.

He had a penchant for buying expensive womens’ clothing, had visited bondage websites, tied himself to his bed and was recorded on his phone prancing naked but for a pair of leather boots in front.

Missing

The first riddle was how Mr Williams could have been missing for a week at one of the country’s most sensitive organisations without anyone raising the alarm.

The codebreaker was known for his meticulous time keeping and professionalism and should have been back at work from a foreign trip on Monday August 16.

He did not show up all that week and missed two pre-arranged meetings with other intelligence officers.

Despite working in a small office with just three others, no one thought it strange.

His line manager, known only as witness G, thought he must have forgotten he was on a course or something similar and made only the most cursory attempts to contact him by phone.

There were also suggestions of confusion over who was responsible for his whereabouts as he was due to return to GCHQ, having cut short his secondment, the week after he was found.

He was not officially classed as missing until Monday August 23 and even then it took another four hours before the police were notified and his body discovered.

Alive or dead

Central to the case was whether he could get in to the bag himself and, if not, whether he was alive or dead when placed in it.

Two experts in confined space rescue or “unusual occurrences” tried and failed more than 400 times to climb in to a bag unaided and lock it.

Videos of their attempts were shown to the hearing.

One concluded even Harry Houdini would struggle and that Mr Williams was “dead or unconscious” when he went in to the bag.

Pathologists would later estimate that “poisoning or asphyxiation” were the most likely causes of death and that he would have been overcome by carbon dioxide within three minutes of being placed in there.

But because the body was so badly decomposed several poisons, including cyanide and chloroform, could not even be tested for.

The third party

The police investigation had its own problems.

No usable DNA was recovered from the flat and police spent more than 18 months chasing one encouraging sample before discovering it belonged to one of the forensic officers who attended the scene. An error in recording it for checking had sent police on a wild goose chase.

However, DCI Sebire is convinced a third party was involved and that the death is “suspicious”.

Weak traces of DNA of at least two other people were found on the bag but they may never be sufficient for a match.

The “Old Boys” club

The issue of how much help DCI Sebire received from MI6 and the counter terror officers acting as the link was also a constant focus.

Anthony O’Toole, the family lawyer, raised concerns over what assurances were taken that none of Mr Williams’ work equipment and belongings were “interfered” with before being handed to police.

He was concerned that counter terror officers simply accepted what the intelligence services told them because they were acting almost under an “Old Boys Act”.

In dramatic events on Tuesday, Dr Wilcox accused Det Supt Michael Broster, who headed up the counter terror team, of not being “completely impartial”.

It emerged nine memory sticks possibly belonging to Mr Williams and a sports bag similar to one he was found in were discovered at MI6 but never passed to the investigating team.

Det Supt Broster insisted he was impartial throughout.

The family trauma

For Mr Williams’ parents Ian and Ellen and sister Ceri Subbe, the hearing has been a daily ordeal.

On several occasions relatives were overcome with emotion, especially as they heard of the apparent disregard and apathy his colleagues had in noticing he was missing.

MI6 said it was “profoundly sorry” for the failures.

The shock of learning of Mr Williams alternative lifestyle will also have taken its toll but they acted with dignity throughout.

Their lawyer Mr O’Toole has suggested those specialized in the “dark arts” were involved in the death and that all the family want are answers.

Future

DCI Sebire has insisted the investigation will continue until answers are found.

Results are expected within weeks as to whether a DNA sample has been recovered from a towel found in the kitchen.

And a full review of the case will be carried out in light of all the evidence that has emerged during the inquest.

No evidence that his death was linked to his work or his private life has been unearthed and the inquest has failed to answer many key questions.

For the police and the family the quest goes on but unlike the crime novels, this mystery may never be solved.

Sky : Spy Death: Unlawful Killing Verdict Ruled Out

Spy Death: Unlawful Killing Verdict Ruled Out

Mark Stone, Sky reporter | May 2, 2012

A coroner investigating the death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams has said there is insufficient evidence to consider a verdict of unlawful killing.

Dr Fiona Wilcox said a narrative verdict was the most appropriate option available to her as an open verdict "would not do justice" to her findings.

Mr Williams' body was found curled up naked in a padlocked holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico, central London, in August 2010.

Dr Wilcox, who has spent seven days listening to evidence from 39 witnesses, is due to deliver her verdict later today over his mysterious death.

A narrative verdict is an option open to a coroner when other verdict options do not fit the case. It is a short factual statement outlining the facts.

It does leave open the option to include any failures by any party relevant to the circumstances of a death.

The lawyer for Mr Williams' family, Anthony O'Toole, believes that in the balance of probability, to use his words, the codebreaker's death was unlawful killing.

However, he accepts there is perhaps insufficient evidence to come categorically to that conclusion.

The very fact that Mr Williams' body was found locked in a bag would lead some to believe that perhaps there was a third party involved.

Indeed, the police have said all along that it is their belief that a third party was involved.

Dr Wilcox has questioned all of those who appeared in person and listened as lawyers for Mr Williams' family, as well as lawyers representing both the Metropolitan Police and MI6 cross-examined the witnesses.

Evidence included some surprising revelations, including the disclosure that MI6 had failed to pass over some of Mr Williams' belongings from his office at MI6.

The officer in charge of the investigation into his death only found out about the existence of some of the items on Tuesday.

"Had I known about their existence, I would have expected them to be disclosed and any relevant information to be sent to my team. I would have expected to have been told," DCI Jackie Sebire told the court.

A senior Metropolitan Police officer also admitted that he had relied on MI6 to decide which of Mr Williams' belongings was relevent to the investigation into the death.

Detective Superintendent Michael Broster said that he trusted MI6 to give him all the information he needed.

Responding to that admission, the coroner said: "Shouldn't the investigators be examining the items, not the people providing them?

"I would suggest that you are not being an impartial investigator in this case. An impartial investigator would have seized the items themselves."

Mr O'Toole put it more directly to Supt Broster.

"If the person who killed Gareth was a member of the Secret Intelligence Service, you did nothing to investigate because you believed that the organisation was trustworthy?"

The wide range of witnesses in this inquest began with Mr Williams' sister Ceri Subbe who talked fondly of her brother.

She described him as "a country boy" who had expressed frustration with his secondment from GCHQ in Gloucestershire to MI6 in London.

Friends of Mr Williams also gave evidence. Among them was Sian Jones, a fashion consultant.

"We were childhood sweethearts and I would just say we were very, very close," she told the court last week.

She, and other witnesses were asked how they could explain the fact that £20,000 of women's clothes and shoes were found in the flat where Mr Williams' body was discovered.

Ms Jones and Ms Subbe both told the inquest that Mr Williams was a very generous man and that the clothes were likely to be gifts. Ms Jones said he had frequently bought her clothes and handbags.

"He was a truly generous person. It wouldn't surprise me if they were gifts," she said.

His family listened as other uncomfortable details about his private life were discussed. He had visited bondage websites, the court was told, but only on four occasions in two years.

The inquest was also told he had once tied himself to a bed and had to rely on his landlord to free him.

Mr Williams' professional life was examined in minute detail as well. He was described as a brilliant man, highly intelligent and part of a team whose "Herculean efforts" in cryptology had won departmental awards at GCHQ.

Staff at MI6 gave evidence anonymously from behind a screen. They were pressed on why it took them eight days to report Mr Williams missing.

One MI6 officer, identified only as witness G said he first thought Mr Williams was stuck on a train, then thought perhaps there had been a mix up with holiday.

"In hindsight, knowing what I know now, should I have taken action? Absolutely," witness G said.

Another witness, SIS-F, apologised for Witness G's lack of action.

"SIS are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened. We recognise the delay (of a week) in finding Gareth's body has made it harder to come to terms with his death," SIS-F said.

The delay in reporting him missing made the pathologists work very hard, the court heard. When Mr Williams' body was eventually discovered it was badly decomposed.

The three post-mortem examinations could not establish the cause of death. Three pathologists told the inquest that the decomposition hindered their work.

Benjamin Swift, a Home Office pathologist, said that although the cause of death was "unascertained", he believed that poisoning or asphyxiation such as suffocation were "probably rather than possibly" to blame.

The police officer in charge of the investigation said at the start of the inquest that she believed the crux of the case surrounded the bag Mr Williams was found in.

The police still do not know how Mr Williams came to be in that bag. If he was alone, they do not know how he locked it from the outside.

If he was not alone, then who else was there and what motive did they have for killing him?

The police investigation had drawn a succession of blanks.

New evidence heard in this inquest for the first time might help them draw new leads in the coming months.

The police have repeatedly said there is still a chance of the breakthrough they need.

Telegraph : Gareth Williams profile: the codebreaker with a secret double life

Gareth Williams profile: the codebreaker with a secret double life

Gareth Williams was the spy with the very secret double life - but not the one you might expect.

Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | May 2, 2012

When at work in one of the most sensitive secretive organisations, Gareth Williams was a maths genius carrying out "world class" work for the intelligence services.

But at home he had a penchant for womens' clothing, dancing naked in leather boots and visiting bondage websites.

Over the course of an eight day inquest in to his bizarre death an extraordinary picture of this seemingly unassuming, quiet man emerged.

A devoted son and brother, the 31-year-old codebreaker appeared to have a bright future ahead of him until his untimely and very strange demise.

But his death opened a door on a completely alternative lifestyle, no doubt to the shock and surprise of loved ones.

On the outside, to work colleagues he appeared a little introvert and not willing to join in the office camaraderie.

Having been seconded to MI6 in London from GCHQ he had asked, and been granted, an early return to Cheltenham because he disliked the city life because, in his sister Ceri Subbe’s words, he was really a “country boy”.

The job wasn’t what he had expected and he hated the “rat race, flash car competitions and post-work drinking culture”.

A keen cyclist and walker, he wanted to return to the freedom of the outdoors.

One colleague even suggested he wanted to the head back to GCHQ because people there were more on his technical level.

He didn’t appear to make, or want, many friends. His landlady in Cheltenham for 10 years said he never had anyone to the flat.

In London, one friend, Elizabeth Guthrie said she had never visited his home but he was happy to sit at hers watching DVDs rather than go out drinking.

Only too aware of the sensitivities of his job, he was a “scrupulous risk-assessor" and as meticulous as a “Swiss clock”.

He appeared to be a super intelligent prodigy who didn’t find it easy, or wanted, to fit in.

But he had another life, one that could not have contrasted more with his public image.

Police arriving at his flat found £20,000 worth of exclusive designer women's clothing and shoes, including Christian Laboutin, Christian Dior and Chloe.

It would have taken a substantial chunk of his annual salary of just under 40k.

Carol Kirton, who worked at upmarket west London fashion store Dover Street Market recalled how he was “different from other male customers”

She described him as “shy” but "on a mission to buy an item" when he came in.

Most of the clothes were untouched and it remains uncertain why he had them.

It may have been a genuine healthy interest as it also emerged he had completed two six week fashion courses St Martin’s College in London.

Perhaps he was planning for a life after spying and his friends insisted he was not gay or a transvestite.

But the deeper the police delved in to his life the stranger it became.

In 2007, his Cheltenham landlady Jennifer Ellliot discovered him tied to his own bedposts wearing only boxer shorts.

He insisted he was attempting some escapology – at 1.30am - but Mrs Elliot and her husband were convinced it was “sexual”.

Evidence of visits to bondage and fetish websites were also found on his phones and lap tops as well as images of high profile drag queens.

Some searches related to models in various forms of a “hogtie” – a bondage position often performed naked.

There was also a link to an article about a woman who was enclosed in plastic before having the air sucked out with a vacuum.

However, police said the searches only occurred during four separate periods over two years and described it as “sporadic research” rather than an active interest.

But they also found a homemade video showing Mr Williams naked except for black leather boots in which he “wiggles and girates” with his back to the camera was on one of his iPhones.

It remains unclear if Mr Williams spymasters knew any of his alternate lifestyle but one unnamed witness appeared to suggest even if they had it would not necessarily have stopped him being employed.

The senior MI6 manager SIS F said vetting processes focused on “trustworthiness, integrity and reliability” and that people can have “lifestyle choices” that are “perfectly legitimate”.

There was no question over Mr Williams’ talent.

Originally from Holyhead, north Wales, he gained a maths O-level aged 10, graduated from Bangor University at 17 before completing a PhD and post-graduate studies at Manchester and Cambridge Universities.

At GCHQ he was described as a prodigy who did “world class” work and at MI6 he was working alongside undercover operatives.

In 2009 he was part of team that won a national award for technical prowess and after his death he was given a posthumous one for significant achievement in crypt analysis

But he left the world in very unceremonious circumstances, naked in a sports bag in a bath and as the mystery over how he came to meet end continues the enigma that was Gareth Williams may never be unravelled.

BBC : MI6 officer Gareth Williams and the 'missing hours' before his death

MI6 officer Gareth Williams and the 'missing hours' before his death

By Danny Shaw | Home affairs correspondent, BBC News | May 2, 2012

Just after 15:00 BST on Sunday 15 August 2010, a young man strolled into Alderney Street in Pimlico clutching two carrier bags.

CCTV shows the slim, wiry figure, in chinos and a red T-shirt, heading towards a block of flats at number 36.

It was the last time Gareth Williams was seen alive.

What happened in the next 19 hours, before the time Gareth was expected at his desk at the headquarters of MI6, holds the key to his death.

But there is little that is known with any certainty about those mysterious, missing hours.

Evidence heard at the inquest suggests that during the evening, Gareth cooked one of the two peppered grill-steaks he had bought from Waitrose that day, and had it for his supper.

There are also indications that at 23:30 BST he backed up data to a laptop from one of his phones, before viewing a cycling website at about 01:00 BST.

However, even these details cannot be confirmed - as it is possible someone else may have been using his phone and computer.

Like much of the case, speculation fills the void of those missing hours. In a way it is entirely in keeping with the strange and secretive life that Gareth Williams led.

'Somewhat naive'

To his friends, colleagues and family Gareth was an exceptionally gifted and hard-working young man whose spare time was spent on outdoor pursuits - rock-climbing, fell-running and cycling.

He also loved art, fashion, good food and shopping - Harvey Nichols and Harrods were just two of the stores he had visited that weekend.

But Gareth did not get close to many people. His former landlady in Cheltenham, Jennifer Elliot, described him as a "private person" who "kept himself to himself" and rarely had visitors.

Cheryl Eastap, who ran a 10-week fashion course at Central St Martin's College, in London, said that Gareth attended without his friends knowing, and that he was a "loner" who was very nervous and kept apologising.

"I considered him to be naive somewhat", she said in a statement read to the inquest, "not worldly or streetwise."

'Scruprulous risk assessor'

It is an interesting description that perhaps should have received closer scrutiny at the hearing than it did.

Did Gareth get himself into a situation in his private life where he was out of his depth? If so, what could it have been?

Although Gareth's sister, Ceri Subbe, said he was the "most scrupulous risk assessor" she had ever known, he had interests that his sister - to whom he was arguably closer than anyone else - did not know about, and which may have posed considerable risks.

One of his interests was in bondage. It may have been no more than curiosity that drew Gareth to view bondage websites, but the evidence is, that on one occasion at least, he took his interests to another level.

In 2007, Jennifer Elliot was woken in the middle of the night by Gareth's cries for help. The Cheltenham landlady and her husband found him in his boxer shorts, lying on his bed, his hands tied to the knobs of the headboard.

"He just said 'I just wanted to see if I could get myself free'," said Mrs Elliot in a statement.

She and her husband thought the escapade was a sexual act rather than an attempt at escapology, and Gareth promised his landlady it would not happen again.

But within two years he was in London, which would have afforded him greater opportunities to experiment if he had wanted.

Nothing has been discovered so far to suggest that Gareth did meet anyone in the capital who shared such interests, let alone invite them back to his flat.

But secrecy was the MI6 officer's trade. If he had wanted to keep something hidden in his private life, he would have surely found a way.

London certainly did provide Gareth Williams with the chance to indulge his love of women's fashion.

It might even be called an obsession. He had accumulated a collection of designer clothes and footwear worth around £20,000.

Identity crisis

Neither his closest friend, Sian Jones, a fashion stylist, nor Elizabeth Guthrie, with whom he was planning to attend a fancy dress ball, knew about the dresses and shoes.

That is perhaps more significant than the collection itself. It is another illustration of Gareth's secretive nature and suggests a hinterland of which no-one else was aware.

What else was hidden away? Gareth surely never intended that a video of him naked but for a pair of boots, bending down and wiggling his hips in front of a camera, would be found by a policeman and referred to in a courtroom. So who was it intended for?

Police investigators have tried to find out.

Almost 18 months ago, they appealed for information to confirm sightings of Gareth Williams at a gay bar in the Vauxhall area.

He had tickets for drag shows in the area and had previously gone to see Jonny Woo - a drag cabaret act - in east London.

But detectives appear to have made little progress tracking down anyone he met or with whom he was romantically involved.

What does appear clear, however, is that Gareth was to some extent struggling with his identity.

The wigs found in his flat, as well as the female clothing and shoes, may well be one sign. Another clue is provided by a newspaper clipping, found under a book on his living room table.

The cutting, from an Observer article, listed the "Top five regrets of the dying". Among them was having the courage to "live a life true to myself", "express my feelings" and "let myself be happier".

Those last unexplained hours of Gareth Williams' life were probably not happy ones. But the details of what went on remain as puzzling as the man himself.

Gareth Williams: What the evidence tells us

INJURIES: Nine days passed between the death of Gareth Williams and his post-mortem examination. His body had become badly decomposed, making the work of pathologists and toxicologists difficult. Dr Benjamin Swift only found small injuries on Mr Williams, which could have been the result of accidents. He noted that poison or asphyxiation were the most likely causes of death. Toxicologists said some substances, such as cyanide, chloroform and anaesthetic agents, would not have been detectible.

THE LOCKED BAG RIDDLE: One key question before the inquest was whether Mr Williams had locked himself in the bag. Expert witness Peter Faulding, shown above, said that he had tried and failed to lock the bag from inside 300 times. "I couldn't say it's impossible, but I think even Houdini would have struggled with this one," he said. William MacKay, another expert witness, said that he and an assistant had failed in more than 100 attempts to lock the bag from inside - but couldn’t rule out that Mr Williams had been able to.

INSIDE THE BAG: Did Mr Williams die inside the bag? Pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd said: "The balance of probability is that Gareth was alive when he got in the bag.” He added: "I think there could have been a period of awareness that he needed to get out. The length of time might have been short." But Mr Faulding said he believed that Mr Williams was dead or unconscious before being placed in the bag. He suggested it would have been possible to shut Mr Williams in the holdall as long as rigor mortis had not set in.

WEBSITES AND SMARTPHONES: As part of the inquest, Mr Williams's computers and phones were examined. Detectives said the computers had been used to visit bondage websites. But, the inquest heard, this did not necessarily suggest an ongoing interest in such sites. Mr Williams's phones also had bondage websites in their browser history, while a smartphone found on a table contained no data because its factory settings had been restored.

WOMEN'S CLOTHES: Shoes and women’s designer clothing valued at £20,000 were found in the flat. Detectives also said that about half of the internet use on Mr Williams's computers had been in the area of women's high fashion, including handbags, cosmetics, belts and gloves. Friends and family members said they did not believe the clothes were for Mr Williams, but were probably intended as gifts. Friend Elizabeth Guthrie told the inquest Mr Williams had no interest in cross-dressing and she believed he was "straight".

Perth Now : Coroner rules out unlawful death for British spy found in sports bag

Coroner rules out unlawful death for British spy found in sports bag

Sky News | From: NewsCore | May 02, 2012

A CORONER investigating the death of British spy Gareth Williams, who was found dead inside a padlocked sports bag, said today there was insufficient evidence to consider a verdict of unlawful killing.

Fiona Wilcox said a narrative verdict - a short factual statement outlining the facts of the case - was the most appropriate option available to her, as an open verdict "would not do justice" to her findings.

Wilcox, who has spent seven days listening to evidence from 39 witnesses, is due to deliver her conclusion tomorrow (AEST).

Today's evidence included some surprising revelations, including the disclosure that British intelligence agency MI6 had failed to pass over some of Williams' belongings from his office to investigators.

The wide range of witnesses in the inquest began with Williams' sister Ceri Subbe, who described her brother as "a country boy" who expressed frustration with being transferred from Britain's secret monitoring site GCHQ, in southwestern England, to MI6 in London.

Friends of Williams also gave evidence, including his childhood sweetheart Sian Jones, a fashion consultant.

She, and other witnesses were asked how they could explain the fact that £20,000 ($32,428) of women's clothes and shoes were found in the apartment where Williams' body was discovered.

Jones and Subbe both told the inquest that Williams was a very generous man and that the clothes were likely to be gifts.

His family listened as other uncomfortable details about his private life were discussed. He had visited bondage websites, the court was told, but only on four occasions in two years.

The inquest was also told he had once tied himself to a bed and had to rely on his landlord to free him.

Staff at MI6, who gave evidence anonymously from behind a screen, were pressed on why it took them eight days to report Williams missing.

One MI6 officer, identified only as witness G, said he first thought Williams was stuck on a train, then thought there had been a mix up with leave dates.

The delay in reporting him missing made the task facing pathologists very difficult, and three post-mortem examinations could not establish the cause of death, the court heard.

Benjamin Swift, a Home Office pathologist, said he believed that poisoning or asphyxiation were "probably rather than possibly" to blame.

The police officer in charge of the investigation said that she believed the crux of the case surrounded the bag Williams was found in. Police still do not know how he came to be in the bag as it was locked it from the outside.