Scotsman : Gareth Williams inquest: Spies are far cry from the world of James Bond

Gareth Williams inquest: Spies are far cry from the world of James Bond

May 3, 2012

THE inquest provided a rare insight into the highly secretive world of Britain’s national security agencies.

But the picture of life working for government intelligence painted at the hearing was a far cry from the glamorous and dangerous world of MI6’s most famous fictional employee, James Bond.

It was bureaucracy and office politics rather than a succession of beautiful women, car chases and lucky escapes from certain death that made Mr Williams want to leave the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as MI6 is known.

His line manager said he decided to quit because he was getting bogged down in the red tape of “process risk mitigation”. The SIS’s headquarters are in Vauxhall, south London, which is also home to one of London’s liveliest gay scenes.

But his boss – given the codename “SIS F” – indicated that what the maths prodigy got up to in his private life would not necessarily have stopped him carrying out his top-secret work.

She said: “There’s no set template as to what [an employee’s] lifestyle should be. Individuals have lifestyles and sexual choices which are perfectly legitimate. Our concern in the vetting process is to identify whether anything in the individual’s background, lifestyle, creates a risk for him.”

The inquest also undermined the image of MI6 as an ultra-slick agency able to locate anyone anywhere in the world within minutes. Mr Williams failed to turn up for a meeting at work at 3pm on August 16, 2010, but the SIS did not report him missing to police until 23 August.

SIS F blamed the week-long delay in alerting Scotland Yard on a “breakdown in communication”.

It is hard to imagine such an error getting past Miss Moneypenny, the super-efficient secretary to 007’s boss, M.

33 KDAF : Coroner Mystified by Death of Spy Found Naked in Bag

Coroner Mystified by Death of Spy Found Naked in Bag

CNN | May 2, 2012

London -- It is unlikely that the death of a British spy found at his home in 2010 -- his naked body padlocked inside a large red carrying bag stowed in the bathtub -- will ever be satisfactorily explained, coroner Fiona Wilcox said Wednesday.

Gareth Williams, an MI6 agent known for his mathematical genius and codebreaking talent, was found dead in August 2010.

Following an official investigation by the coroner's office, the "most fundamental questions as to how Gareth died remain unanswered," Wilcox said, adding that there was "endless speculation but little real evidence."

There was a key to the bag in which he was found inside it with him, and there were others in his apartment, Wilcox said.

There was no sign of a break-in or robbery in his neat, tidy apartment, she said Wednesday. She described his body as "peaceful" and said there was no indication of a struggle.

British media have reported that Williams' Internet history showed an interest in sex games and bondage. But DNA traces suggest other people may have been in his apartment.

The coroner's inquest into his death heard that Williams was not reported missing for more than a week, despite the sensitive nature of his work, meaning many vital clues were lost to decomposition.

UK media have reported about the 31-year-old's apparent interest in bondage and claustrophilia, a fetish for enclosure in very confined spaces.

Reports about the "body-in-a-bag spy" describe how two experts spent days trying to figure out whether Williams, who was athletic and of medium height, could have contorted himself in such as way as to lock himself into the North Face holdall bag, with a key to the padlock inside.

Video provided to the court shows one of them, Peter Faulding, folding himself laboriously into an identical bag, measuring just 32 inches by 19 inches (81 by 48 centimeters), placed in a bathtub.

Faulding, who specializes in rescuing people from confined spaces, told the inquest that he had tried to lock himself into the bag 300 times without success, according to the Press Association news agency. A second expert witness, also of a size and build similar to Williams, tried 100 times to re-enact the feat without succeeding.

But neither ruled out definitively the possibility that Williams could have somehow done it alone. A small trace of someone else's DNA was found on the bag, helping spawn all kinds of theories -- that he was perhaps drugged by a foreign spy who then locked him in the bag, or was the victim of a kinky sexual liaison gone wrong.

The detail that the closets in Williams' central London flat contained thousands of dollars' worth of designer women's clothing and shoes, some of which had been worn, as well as women's wigs and cosmetics, added fuel to the fire of speculation.

Another revelation came from a former landlord and landlady, who told how they had once found Williams tied by his wrists to the headboard of his bed, after he shouted for help.

Williams said he had wanted to see if he could get free, landlady Jennifer Elliot told the court, but she and her husband "thought it was more likely to be sexual than escapology," according to the Press Association.

Williams was recruited into the intelligence services straight from university, working with Government Communications Headquarters before MI6. The nature of his work and questions around why his spy agency bosses took so long to raise an alert about his absence have added to the intrigue surrounding his death.

In a courtroom scene reminiscent of a spy thriller, his boss testified from behind a screen and was identified only as SIS F -- the Secret Intelligence Service being the official name for MI6.

She apologized to Williams' family for the service's failure to act sooner, but said his lifestyle choices were not a concern for the agency, suggesting it has moved on from the rigid mores of past decades, when closet homosexuality or illicit affairs opened up possibilities for blackmail.

"There is no set template for what their lifestyle should be," SIS F said of today's intelligence agents, according to the Press Association. "Individuals have lifestyle and sexual choices and sexual preferences which are perfectly legitimate."

She acknowledged that Williams had made a number of unauthorized computer searches at work but played down the significance of this fact, the agency said.

Williams was finally reported missing by a co-worker on August 23, more than a week after the normally punctilious employee had last shown up at work.

A transcript of the call to police said that Williams was last spoken to on Friday, August 13, and that calls to his home number and cell phone had gone unanswered. His sister had also been unable to reach him.

The caller mentioned that Williams had "recently been pulled off of a job" and said it was unclear if he might have "taken this badly."

The family's lawyer accused MI6 of showing "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety" before he was found dead at his government-provided home, the Press Association reported.

Concerns over national security have been a factor in the 20-month delay in holding Williams' inquest, and an agency more used to working in the shadows has had an uncomfortably bright light shone into its practices.

As well as adding to his family's distress, the initial delay in reporting Williams' death means forensic specialists simply cannot answer many of the most pressing questions.

Testing did not give conclusive results because the body had decomposed significantly after nine days in the summer heat of his top-floor apartment, toxicology reports posted online say.

Traces of alcohol and a chemical matching the party drug GHB were found, but both can occur naturally as part of the decomposition process, one document says. Williams was teetotal, so "even a small amount of alcohol could affect cognitive capacity," it notes.

A series of photographs provided by the Metropolitan Police show the tidy, impersonal interior of the spy's Pimlico home and the small, white-tiled bathroom where his body was found.

A bicycle parked in the hallway is a clue to Williams' more regular passion, cycling. A glimpse through the bedroom door shows a bed half-made, clothes lying on it. But little else can be gleaned from the images.

Media reports have homed in on expert testimony that despite Williams' solitary lifestyle, tiny traces of DNA from "at least two" other people were found in his apartment.

But who those visitors were and whether they hold the clue to the riddle of the agent's mysterious death are yet more questions that remain unanswered.

Williams' family, with whom he was close, denies that he was gay or had a secret, unorthodox sex life.

They believe someone else was there either when Williams died or afterward, their lawyer, Anthony O'Toole, told a hearing held before the inquest began, and they suspect some degree of expert cover-up was involved.

"The impression of the family is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specializing in the dark arts of the secret services -- or evidence has been removed post-mortem by experts in the dark arts," O'Toole said, according to the Press Association.

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.

Orange UK News : Errors hindered spy death probe

Errors hindered spy death probe

May 2, 2012

The bizarre circumstances of Gareth Williams's death left detectives faced with a perplexing case, but mistakes made after he died hardly helped in the quest for answers.

A week elapsed before MI6 raised the alarm over the spy's disappearance. With his undiscovered body decomposing, crucial evidence could well have been lost.

Various reasons for the delay were offered, based on false assumptions about the agent's whereabouts.

One MI6 line manager said he thought Mr Williams must be stuck on a train when he missed a meeting seven days before his remains were found.

Other colleagues believed for days he might be packing for his return to GCHQ from his London secondment.

Either that, or he was working on coursework, they thought.

Yet Mr Williams was so punctual one colleague was said to have likened him to a Swiss clock, with non-attendance at a meeting being most out of character.

A contrite secret services boss - named only as SIS F - acknowledged the blunders, admitting Mr Williams's no-show should have been flagged two to four hours after being noted.

"We are profoundly sorry about what happened," she said.

"It shouldn't have happened and we recognise that the delay in finding Gareth's body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his dreadful death and we are truly sorry for that.

"I also appreciate the delay had some impact on the police investigation."

The family's lawyer, Anthony O'Toole, pulled no punches in describing this impact.

"Because of the decomposition of the body, any forensic evidence that could have been derived from it has disappeared, so the police investigation has in essence been almost defeated," he said.

Scientists were left with little to go on when trying to establish how the spy died and could not rule out poisoning, despite lacking hard proof.

The slow response of the secret services was not, however, the only error feared to have hampered the inquiry.

As the inquest neared its end, MI6 and a senior detective were accused of failing to disclose vital evidence.

Nine computer memory sticks and a black bag were overlooked for 21 months after the death, with the lead detective on the case told of them only this week.

The North Face bag - similar to the one in which the agent was found dead - was discovered by officers under his desk at MI6's London HQ.

MI6 also examined computer equipment belonging to Mr Williams without telling police.

And the spy's relatives were left shaking their heads as Detective Constable Colin Hall, of the Met's counter-terror SO15 branch, said his search of the agent's Vauxhall headquarters was called off shortly after the death was discovered.

The case was then plagued by further false steps when forensic teams mistakenly identified what they thought was a significant spot of DNA on Mr Williams's hand in 2010.

It took them until March this year to realise it matched a scientist at the crime scene.

Human error was blamed, with the wrong number for the sample being logged on a computer.

Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox spelt out the damage done: "My concern, and I'm sure the police's concern, was the amount of time spent in the investigation on what was a false lead."

Scientific adviser Ros Hammond, of LGC Forensics, said she had never witnessed this sort of mix-up.

The forensic officer responsible, Paul Stafford Allen, apologised for any "distress" caused to the family by his transcription error, expressing his "deep regret".

But apologies, and promises that changes have since been made to prevent such slip-ups recurring, will not give the family the answers they crave.

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.

LBC : Spy Death: Unlawful Killing Verdict Ruled Out

Spy Death: Unlawful Killing Verdict Ruled Out

May 1, 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.

Guardian : MI6 and MI5 must be held to account

MI6 and MI5 must be held to account

The Gareth Williams case is just one in a series of failings – the security services need reform, for our sake and theirs

Richard Norton-Taylor | April 30, 2012

Britain's security and intelligence agencies, MI5 and MI6, have always been the targets of criticism, conspiracy theories, all sorts of allegations. And they are used to it.

But this time is different. They are mired in unprecedented controversy, desperately trying to withstand growing evidence – evidence, not just allegations – of unacceptable activities, specifically conniving with Gaddafi's secret police over the fate of Libyan dissidents.

The inquest into the death of Gareth Williams, the GCHQ computer expert, has revealed a side to MI6 management that raises serious questions about its duty of care to its own staff. Williams was missing for a week before MI6, to which he was seconded, notified the police and his family. The delay seriously hampered the investigation and caused distress to those close to the young man. Williams's naked body was discovered inside a locked hold-all in his flat more than a week after he failed to turn up to a scheduled meeting at Vauxhall Cross, the agency's headquarters on the Thames in August 2010.

A GCHQ witness told the inquest that action should have been taken on the first day of Williams's absence. A female MI6 officer, witness F, apologised saying "it clearly took too long" to do anything about it. She blamed Williams's line manager, identified only as witness G, and what she called a "breakdown in communications".

MI6's attitude seems even less explicable given that Williams had already made it clear he was unhappy working at Vauxhall Cross. "My understanding through conversations with Gareth at the time was that there was some frustration in that the job was not quite what he anticipated", G told the inquest. He was "frustrated by the amount of process risk mitigation".

Not for the first time, bureaucratic procedures designed to minimise risk in Britain's security and intelligence agencies had not taken into account an individual's sensitivities. The ethos in GCHQ is quite different to that prevailing in MI6.

MI6 and MI5, meanwhile, are facing legal action from opponents of Muammar Gaddafi who sought refuge in Britain. Two were rendered to Tripoli where they were brutally treated. Other dissidents say MI5 pressed them to spy on their fellow refugees in the UK. Salah al-Hashemi, a businessman, has told the Sunday Times he was threatened with detention if he did not accept MI5 demands to supply the Libyan authorities with details of fellow dissidents who had fled to London and Manchester.

According to a Libyan intelligence dossier, a named female MI5 agent wanted Hashemi to feel "pursued by both the British and the Libyan security services in order to make him feel worried enough to seek a friend's advice". The friend, who had been recruited by MI5, would then encourage him to co-operate.

According to the documents, MI5 advised that a dissident in Manchester be told that if he did not supply information, he should be warned that "British security services will arrest him and accuse him of working with Libyan intelligence … or he will face court and be deported to Libya".

MI5's job is to seek informants but only in the interests of protecting Britain's national security. And, according to MI5's own guidelines, such sources must never be coerced into providing information, nor should they be threatened with deportation, or being rendered, back to their own country.

These cases may be pursued in the courts but are unlikely to be resolved at least until the completion of police investigations into the role played by MI5 and MI6 officers and by Labour ministers to whom they were accountable at the time.

Just as well, perhaps. The security and intelligence agencies, MI5 in particular, are facing a huge challenge — namely, securing the Olympics. That is their priority now. After the Olympics, there will in any case be a shake-up with the election of police commissioners and the setting up of a National Crime Agency.

That should be the time for MI5 and MI6 to be subjected to a shake-up in the way they are held to account. They should be scrutinised by an independent inspector general (as security and intelligence agencies are in the US, Australia and Canada) and the parliamentary intelligence and security committee should be made much more robust and effective than the government, and its existing members, have suggested. This would help to restore confidence in them and boost their own morale. Reforms such as these are essential, for the sake of MI5 and MI6, as well as the public.

EDGE (Boston) : Death of British Spy: Was It Sex Play Gone Wrong Or Espionage?

Death of British Spy: Was It Sex Play Gone Wrong Or Espionage?

by David Stringer | Associated Press | April 29, 2012

A delay in reporting as missing a British spy whose naked and decomposing body was later found locked inside a sports bag frustrated police inquiries into his mysterious death, witnesses told an inquest hearing Thursday.

Gareth Williams, 31, worked for Britain’s secret eavesdropping service GCHQ but was attached to the country’s MI6 overseas spy agency when his remains were found in August 2010 inside the bag and in a bathtub at his central London apartment.

The inquest hearing was previously told the spy’s manager at MI6, formally known as the Secret Intelligence Service, didn’t raise the alarm for a week after Williams first failed to appear for work, complicating the task for investigators.

Members of Williams’ family walked out of the hearing in tears Thursday as a second colleague- an intelligence officer identified only as SIS F - acknowledged that the delay "had some impact on the police investigation."

"We are profoundly sorry about what happened," she told the hearing, speaking from behind a screen to preserve her anonymity. "It shouldn’t have happened and we recognize that the delay in finding Gareth’s body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his dreadful death and we are truly sorry for that."

"I also appreciate the delay had some impact on the police investigation," the intelligence officer said.

Forensic expert Denise Stanworth said the delay had meant that toxicology tests conducted on the spy’s body couldn’t be totally reliable in determining whether Williams had been poisoned before his death.

"In terms of many of the drugs, reliable, but in terms of the more volatile substances, not that reliable," Stanworth told the hearing.

Anthony O’Toole, lawyer for the Williams family, told the hearing that relatives believed MI6 colleagues had shown a "total disregard for Gareth’s whereabouts and safety," after failing to alert senior managers and relatives about his disappearance for a week.

He said that relatives also believe police likely lost vital chances to solve the case. So far, detectives have made no arrests and are still not certain exactly how Williams died.

"Because of the decomposition of the body, any forensic evidence that could have been derived from it has disappeared, so the police investigation has in essence been almost defeated," O’Toole said.

Coroner Fiona Wilcox’s inquest hearing must attempt to determine when and how Williams died, and if anyone else could have been involved.

The spy’s colleague SIS F told the hearing that an internal review had concluded that Williams’ death was not connected to his work, which had included operational assignments with MI6.

MI6 had uncovered "no evidence of any specific threat to Gareth and we concluded that there was no reason to think his death was anything to do with his work," the woman told the hearing.

She also rejected suggestions that the spy’s lifestyle could have made him vulnerable.

Police found thousands of pounds (dollars) worth of luxury women’s clothing and shoes in his apartment and discovered that he had visited bondage and sadomasochism websites, including some related to claustrophilia - a desire for confinement in enclosed spaces.

Other witnesses have told the hearing that Williams was not a cross-dresser, but often purchased expensive clothes to give as gifts to female friends.

Williams’ colleague said MI6 had not found any cause for alarm in the spy’s background when he was vetted for his position. "There’s no set template as to what (an employee’s) lifestyle should be. Individuals have lifestyles and sexual choices which are perfectly legitimate," she told the hearing.

Copyright Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Irish Independent : Loner's death shines light on UK's shadowy spies

Loner's death shines light on UK's shadowy spies

By Nigel West | April 29, 2012

TO hear shrieks and sobbing at any inquest is harrowing. Such high emotion seems at odds with the detached image many of us have of the world of spying. Yet last Thursday, during evidence into the death of the intelligence officer Gareth Williams, a female family member broke down in tears, and the hearing had to be adjourned.

Last week, the public had a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of MI6. At the coroner's court in Westminster, the focus of attention was Mr Williams, a 31-year-old GCHQ technician on a three-year secondment to MI6, whose naked body was found in a padlocked holdall at his Pimlico flat in August 2010.

I was one of the spectators in the court; having spent more than 30 years studying and recording the history of the British intelligence community, I can honestly say that this was one of the strangest events I have ever witnessed.

Mr Williams's family has long been convinced that "dark arts" were involved with his death, and that a third party was present either at his death or later destroyed evidence. There have been blunders from the beginning.

At an interim hearing ahead of the inquest, it was revealed that crucial DNA evidence found on Mr Williams's body came from a forensic scientist at the scene, a fact it took the forensic team more than a year to realise. And a Mediterranean couple who had visited the flat in the weeks before Mr Williams's death, and who the police were initially keen to track down, turned out to be a red herring. These mistakes have helped fuel the conspiracy theories surrounding the death.

Since we were dealing with British intelligence, security in the court was paramount. Members of MI6 were referred to by a letter rather than their names.

So who was Gareth Williams? He was a tech wizard, regarded as a "world class" expert in his field, who had joined GCHQ at the age of 21 and had then taken a postgraduate course at Cambridge in advanced mathematics. In 2007 he applied for a transfer to MI6, only to flunk the aptitude test, which suggested he lacked the requisite self-confidence. A year later he passed, which resulted in him moving in 2009 into an office -- shared with G and three others -- in MI6's headquarters at Vauxhall Cross.

Mr Williams was a geek. He did not socialise with colleagues, and none are known to have visited his top-floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico. His sister said in court that he "disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race". Instead, he enjoyed cycling and running, and was fiercely competitive.

It came as a shock to those who thought they knew him that he had attended a course in fashion design, and had accumulated a collection of women's designer clothes, shoes and boots -- valued at £20,000 -- lipstick and an orange wig.

On Thursday, an MI6 officer -- identified only as F -- had said the service was "profoundly sorry" Mr Williams's absence went unreported for five days after he had failed to show up for work. She blamed his line manager -- witness G -- for a breakdown in communication.

Later, it was revealed that when MI6 realised Mr Williams was missing, F had phoned the police. In the conversation, taped by the police and played to the court, F said that Mr Williams had been missing for the whole of the previous week and -- after a question about his state of mind -- she said he had been recalled from a job he had wanted to do, and was uncertain about how he had taken the news. The implication was obvious.

Key to the inquest was whether Mr Williams -- whose naked, decomposing body was found inside a padlocked holdall placed in his bath -- could have locked himself in the bag. Given his apparent interest in bondage, fetish clothing and claustraphilia -- as demonstrated by his web-surfing -- could he have fastened the brass padlock himself, the keys to which were found in the bag, under his body? And if so, where did the other unidentified DNA traces, found on the lock and the zipper, come from? Put simply, was Mr Williams alone when he died, or, though there was no sign of a break-in, was someone else involved?

On Friday, an expert in confined spaces said he was convinced another person was involved in putting Mr Williams into the holdall and locking it.

The other question, then, is whether Mr Williams's death was linked to his job. Detective Superintendent Michael Broster of Counter-Terrorism Command opined that there was nothing to link Mr Williams's death to his professional occupation, and no sign of a cover-up.

The conspiracy theories -- that Mr Williams was living in an MI6 safe-house and had been engaged in dangerous missions overseas; or had been categorised as a high-security risk -- have been scotched.

In short, Mr Williams was a loner who failed to fit in at MI6. As for his private life, MI6 is now very broadminded about individual lifestyles.

Although in theory G should have followed the protocol and started to suspect a problem when Mr Williams failed to show up for a meeting scheduled for Monday, August 16 -- the very day he died -- there is a straightforward explanation. MI6 personnel are often called at short notice to work on a particular, compartmentalised project. Raising the alarm because a team member has slipped away for a secret assignation is de rigueur. It is equally probable that a line-manager would be reluctant to acknowledge that he or she had been left out of the loop.

Another problem for MI6 is its dependency on personnel seconded from other organisations where there is not a clearly defined chain of command and responsibility. As Mr Williams was due to leave MI6 permanently, the assumption was that he was already preparing for his move.

Significantly, his apparent lack of office friendships may be part of the reason why he was not missed by any of his colleagues. Although an earlier intervention would have allowed the forensic scientists to be more precise about what had happened, his life could not have been saved by battering down his door on that Monday afternoon.

©Telegraph

Nigel West is the pen name of Rupert Allason, a military historian and author specialising in intelligence and security issues. His latest book, 'A Historical Dictionary of Chinese Intelligence', will be out in July

- Nigel West

Australian : MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams may have been poisoned

MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams may have been poisoned

Fiona Hamilton | April 28, 2012

THE MI6 spy found padlocked inside a bag may have taken drugs or been poisoned before he died, it was revealed yesterday.

Experts are unable to rule out a range of "volatile agents" or poisons such as cyanide being used on Gareth Williams, 31, whose body had decomposed badly in the week before his colleagues reported him missing.

The codebreaker's inquest was also told that he could have been vulnerable to "hostile and malign" third parties after making unauthorised searches on the agency's sensitive database.

A Secret Intelligence Service witness known only as SIS F said that there were a "small number of searches for which we could not see any clear operational justification".

She told Westminster Coroner's Court there was a "theoretical possibility" that a third party could use that knowledge to "put pressure on Gareth", although there was no evidence that that had occurred. The spy's family have previously suggested that agents specialising in the "dark arts" might have been involved in, or tried to cover up, his death in August 2010.

MI6 offered a "profound apology" to Williams's parents, Ian and Ellen, and his sister, Ceri Subbe, for the failure to raise the alarm about his absence from work. SIS F acknowledged that delays hampered the police inquiry and said that the authorities should have been called within four hours.

The spy's relatives walked out in tears after learning that no disciplinary action had been taken against the MI6 manager who did not report him missing for seven days even though he knew him to be diligent and a meticulous timekeeper.

Anthony O'Toole, representing the Williamses, said that the delays had "horrendous results". As well as material evidence being lost, Williams's family were unable to say goodbye properly because his body was in an "unacceptable state".

Williams had been in the bag for up to nine days and his remains were such that tests for drugs and poisons could not be relied on. The court was told that a "wide range of poisons", anaesthetics and other "volatile agents" might have been used on the spy, who was discovered in the North Face holdall placed in the bath at his flat in Pimlico, Central London. Other substances that could not be ruled out included the legal high amyl nitrate, helium, chloroform and nitrus oxide.

Denise Stanworth, a toxicologist, said that traces of the party drug GHB were found in Williams's bloodstream and urine but had "probably" been produced naturally after he died. Asked how reliable the tests could be, she said: "In terms of many of the drugs, reliable, but in terms of the more volatile substances, not that reliable."

Mr Williams, who was due to leave his MI6 secondment and return to GCHQ in Cheltenham, was found on August 23 but his last known activity took place on August 16.

The investigation into the death has always focused on whether he could have got himself into the holdall, although police believe that a third party was involved.

His Cheltenham landlady had once had to free him after finding him tied up in bed and £26,000 of women's designer clothing and shoes were found in the flat, near MI6 headquarters.

The police have previously disclosed that he visited websites about bondage and claustrophilia.

SIS F said that Mr Williams had passed all vetting processes and she appeared to indicate that such lifestyle preferences would not have rendered him unsuitable for MI6. There was no indication that his death was linked to his work as he was a low-risk officer.

Stephen Gale, his boss at GCHQ who has since retired, said that Mr Williams could have afforded the expensive clothes though they would have taken a "large chunk" out of his salary.

SMH : Date rape drug found in body of MI6 spy

Date rape drug found in body of MI6 spy

Tom Whitehead | April 28, 2012

LONDON: Traces of the date rape drug GHB were found in the body of Gareth Williams, the MI6 spy, an inquest has heard, as experts said they were unable to rule out that he was poisoned.

Small amounts of the Class C drug, which has sedative effects, were found in post-mortem tests.

Denise Stanworth, a toxicologist, told the inquest the traces had probably occurred naturally, which is common shortly after death, but it was possible that Mr Williams had taken the drug.

A panel of forensics experts which reviewed the post-mortem findings was unable to rule out the use of certain poisons, such as cyanide and chloroform, because the body was so decomposed, the inquest heard.

Ms Stanworth said it was unlikely Mr Williams had been given some "old fashioned poison" but she could not rule out other "volatile agents".

The inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court has heard how Mr Williams's naked body was in a padlocked holdall in his London flat for more than a week before it was discovered in August 2010.

While there were no obvious signs of poisoning, the level of decomposition made it impossible to test for certain substances, the hearing was told on Thursday.

A number of drugs and poisons were ruled out, but abuse of amyl and alkyl nitrites, such as poppers, and "lots of substances that could have caused poisoning and death" could not be detected nine days after death, the inquest heard. When asked if the toxicology findings were reliable, Ms Stanworth said: "In terms of many of the drugs, many of the analyses of the drugs, it was reliable. In terms of the more volatile substances, in terms of certain unstable substances, [it was] not that reliable."

The inquest also heard it was impossible to tell whether Mr Williams was alive or dead when he got into the bag.

At one stage, the inquest had to be halted after a member of Mr Williams's family broke down when an MI6 manager disclosed that no one had been disciplined over the errors that led to the code-breaker's body lying undiscovered for so long.

The spy, a meticulous timekeeper, failed to show up for work for a week and should have attended two meetings during that time. But his absence led to only cursory attempts to raise him on the phone. Even when his secret service bosses finally decided he was missing on August 23, it took another four hours before they contacted the police.

A senior manager at MI6, identified only as SIS F, told the hearing from behind a screen: "We are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened and we recognise that the delay in finding Gareth's body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his dreadful death and we are truly sorry for that."

Despite blaming Mr Williams's line manager for the "breakdown in communication", SIS F said no one had been disciplined over the incident.

A female member of the family, who also sat behind the screen, reacted with shock to the disclosure and the hearing was briefly adjourned.

Anthony O'Toole, the lawyer for the family, accused the security agencies of a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety". He blamed the delay for denying the family the chance to say goodbye to Mr Williams while his body was in an "acceptable form" and for making it more or less impossible for detectives to establish how he died.

SIS F also disclosed that Mr Williams had carried out several searches of the secret service database without permission. She admitted that if a "hostile or malign" third party knew of his activities, it could "theoretically use that knowledge to put some pressure on Gareth".

Telegraph, London

Express : BODY-IN-BAG SPY MAY HAVE BEEN POISONED SAYS EXPERT

BODY-IN-BAG SPY MAY HAVE BEEN POISONED SAYS EXPERT

Gareth Williams may have been poisoned or drugged before being left in a sports holdall

By Cyril Dixon | April 27, 2012

MI6 officer Gareth Williams may have been poisoned or drugged before being left in a sports holdall placed in his bath, an inquest heard yesterday.

The revelation came as a secret service chief told how “profoundly sorry” spy bosses were for taking a week to realise he was missing.

Mr Williams’ superiors did nothing to trace the code-breaker for seven days after he failed to attend a meeting at MI6 headquarters.

Denise Stanworth, a toxicology expert, told the inquest that the delay meant blood and urine tests on his body were not conclusive.

She said although there was no sign of “old-fashioned” poisons, they could not be ruled out.

Although there were traces of the party drug GHB and alcohol in his blood, both were probably produced naturally after death.

“If someone had taken GHB close to the time of death you would expect the urine level to be much higher. I can’t completely rule out ingestion of GHB but it would seem unlikely.

“In my opinion it’s far more likely to be post-mortem production.”

When asked how reliable tests could be, Ms Stanworth added: “In terms of many of the drugs, reliable, but in terms of the more volatile substances, not that reliable.”

Ms Stanworth, who reviewed the toxicology, said it was “highly unlikely that he was administered with an old-fashioned poison but they cannot rule out volatile agents”. She said it was impossible to say if there were traces of the legal high poppers.

But she agreed with Westminster coroner Fiona Wilcox that if he had taken them, it “could have caused loss of consciousness or death”.

Yesterday’s apology to Mr Williams’ grieving family, including his mother Ellen Williams and sister Ceri Subbe, was delivered by a Secret Intelligence Service officer identified only as “SIS F”.

Speaking from behind a 10ft screen to protect her identity, she said: “We are profoundly sorry about what happened.

It shouldn’t have happened and we recognise that the delay in finding Gareth’s body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his dreadful death and we are truly sorry for that.

“I also appreciate the delay had some impact on the police investigation.”

Family members rushed out of court in tears as the apology came, and the inquest had to be adjourned while they were comforted. Anthony O’Toole, the family’s lawyer, accused MI6 of showing “total disregard for Gareth’s whereabouts and safety” after he went missing in August 2010.

Mr Williams, 31, failed to turn up on August 16 for the meeting, and his naked body was found rotting in the bag at his flat in Pimlico, central London, on August 23. He was curled up in the foetal position, and the red North Face holdall had been padlocked from the outside.

The hearing continues.

Telegraph : MI6 spy Gareth Williams could have locked himself in bag, inquest hears

MI6 spy Gareth Williams could have locked himself in bag, inquest hears

MI6 spy Gareth Williams may have been able to get into a holdall and lock it from the inside, an inquest heard.

By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | April 27, 2012

Despite experts failing to complete the bizarre task more than 100 times, a specialist said it could not rule out that someone with training could achieve it.

William MacKay, an expert in “unusual occurrences” and confined spaces, said some people can do “amazing things and Mr Williams may be one of those”.

In the fifth and most dramatic day of the inquest of Mr Williams, video footage of attempts to recreate climbing in to a holdall and lock it was shown to the hearing.

The inquest at Westminster Coroners’ Court is investigating Mr Williams’ death, whose decomposing, naked body was found in a padlocked holdall in his bath at his flat in Pimlico in August 2010.

The issue of whether Mr Williams could lock himself in the bag is central to the inquiry and has fuelled theories that a third party was involved.

Mr MacKay said none of his or his colleagues attempts worked but they came “reasonably close” at times.

Asked if it was possible, he said: “Without a lot of training probably not.”

Asked again by coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox if that meant it could not be done, he said: “I would not like to say that.

“There are people who can do amazing things and Mr Williams may well be one of those persons.”

On Thursday, the inquest heard how small traces of the date rape drug GHB were found in Mr Williams’ body.

Experts were also unable to rule out a series of poisons, including cyanide, anesthetics and chloroform, because the body was so badly decomposed it was not possible to accurately test for them.

Forensic scientist Denise Stanworth said the traces of GHB were “probably” naturally occurring, which is common after death, but admitted she could not rule out it had been taken.

She added that "we cannot rule out volatile agents" as she was asked how reliable toxicology can be nine days after death.

Ms Stanworth also said it was impossible to say if there was any sign of the legal high poppers, acknowledging that the drug "could have caused loss of consciousness or death".

MI6 also apologised for failing to raise the alarm about his disappearance, conceding the error may have hampered police inquiries.

Relatives walked out on the inquest in tears as a senior spy said the secret service was "profoundly sorry" for delays in noticing he was missing for a week.

The family's lawyer accused MI6 of showing "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety" before he was found dead in his London home on August 23, 2010.

Speaking from behind a screen, Mr Williams' boss offered a full apology for MI6's slow response to Mr Williams's disappearance in August 2010.

The woman - named only as SIS F - said: "We are profoundly sorry about what happened.

"It shouldn't have happened and we recognise that the delay in finding Gareth's body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his dreadful death and we are truly sorry for that.

"I also appreciate the delay had some impact on the police investigation."

SIS F blamed Mr Williams' line manager for the "breakdown in communication" but said disciplinary action was not taken.

When officers finally entered Mr Williams's flat in Pimlico, central London, they discovered among his possessions some £20,000 of high-end women's clothing and shoes.

Examination of his home computer showed he had also visited websites about claustrophilia - the love of enclosure - and bondage and sadomasochism, the inquest has heard.

Mr O'Toole told the witness of speculation "that revelations about Gareth's private life might have rendered him unsuitable for SIS work".

SIS F replied that it was a "sensitive area" of questioning as it related to vetting issues but indicated his lifestyle and sexual preferences would not in themselves have posed a problem.

"I can't respond directly to the questions over Gareth because that goes to what knowledge we did or didn't have of him," she said.

"There's no set template as to what (an employee's) lifestyle should be. Individuals have lifestyles and sexual choices which are perfectly legitimate.

"Our concern in the vetting process is to identify whether anything in the individual's background, lifestyle, creates a risk for him."

The hearing continues.

Channel 4 : Spy inquest : 'Houdini would have trouble squeezing into bag'

Spy inquest : 'Houdini would have trouble squeezing into bag'

April 27, 2012

Escapologist Harry Houdini would not have been able to fit inside the bag in which MI6 spy Gareth Williams was found dead, his inquest is told.

While one expert testified that it was possible Mr Williams locked himself in the sports bag, Peter Faulding said a third party must have been present.

"I couldn't say it is impossible, but I think even Houdini would have struggled with this one," Mr Faulding, an ex-Parachute Regiment reservist, testified. "Mr Williams was either placed in the bag unconscious, or he was dead before he was in the bag."

A reconstruction played to the London hearing shows a man of similar height and build to Mr Williams struggling to pull the zip shut. The reconstruction in the video was carried out by experts under controlled conditions and should not be copied.

'Extreme heat'

If Mr Williams was alive at the time, he would have only been able to survive for 30 minutes as it was "extremely hot" and uncomfortable, Mr Faulding said. Between them, the two specialists tried 400 times to lock themselves into a similar bag 81cm x 48cm with no success.

William MacKay, an expert in "unusual occurrences," would not rule out the possibility, however, telling the inquest some people can do astonishing things.

"There are people around who can do amazing things and Mr Williams may well have been one of those persons," he said.

Bondage websites

With the hearing now in its fifth and final day, it is unlikely the public will ever know if Mr Williams was the target of foreign agents, the victim of MI6's own "dark arts," or a claustrophiliac with a love of enclosure. The 31-year-old maths genius visited websites about claustrophobia, bondage and sadomasochism.

Police said they found £20,000 of designer women's clothes in his London flat, although one of his close friends said that in her opinion Mr Williams was "straight". His former landlady testified that she found him tied to the bedpost, hollering for help three years before his death.

"My husband said 'What the bloody hell are you doing?'" Jennifer Elliot testified. Mr Williams, wearing only his boxer shorts, said he was "just messing about" to see if he could free himself.

Contaminated evidence

Some of the crime scene evidence was either contaminated or inconclusive because MI6 - including Mr Williams' superviser - said they did not notice he was missing from work for a week. Mr Williams had never missed one day's work previously, and normal procedure was to investigate within two to four hours, fuelling conspiracy theories.

Mr Williams' body was eventually found naked and decomposing, alongside the keys, inside a bag left in his bath. His family say they suspect "a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts" of entering the flat and removing evidence. The equipment used by Mr Williams at MI6 headquarters and Government Communications Headquarters Cheltenham was not retrieved for days after his body was discovered. The agency denies a cover-up.

"There was no reason to think his death was in any way connected to his work," said one MI6 witness, known only as "F". Nor, she added, was there any evidence that Mr Williams' identity as an MI6 officer had been discovered by foreign agencies.

Mr Williams, a former mathematics prodigy, was on a three-year secondment from GCHQ in Cheltenham. He designed technology for his four-person team, according to "F".

One of the detectives who worked on the case said she believed Williams had help getting into the bag as specks of unknown DNA were found on it. But in earlier testimony, the inquest heard crime scene investigators may have contaminated evidence.

NZ Herald : UK probe of slain spy hampered by delay

UK probe of slain spy hampered by delay

April 27, 2012

A colleague of a British spy whose body was found locked inside a sports bag says a delay in reporting him as missing hampered police inquiries into his death.

Gareth Williams, 31, worked for Britain's secret eavesdropping service GCHQ but was attached to the country's MI6 overseas spy agency when his naked and decomposing remains were found in curious circumstances in August 2010 at his central London apartment.

The spy's manager at MI6 previously acknowledged he didn't raise the alarm for a week after Williams first failed to appear for work.

At an inquest hearing Thursday, some of Williams' relatives walked out in tears as a second intelligence official - identified only as SIS F - said she recognized the delay had an "impact on the police investigation."

- AP

Telegraph : MI6 spy inquest: 'even Houdini could not have locked himself in the bag'

MI6 spy inquest: 'even Houdini could not have locked himself in the bag'

MI6 spy Gareth Williams was “dead or unconscious” and placed in a sports holdall by another person, his inquest heard today.

By Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | April 27, 2012

Expert Peter Faulding tried to climb in to a bag inside a bath and lock it himself 300 times and failed every time.

He said: “My conclusion is he was placed in the bag unconscious or was dead when he was put in the bag.”

He also raised the idea the bag was placed in the bath so “bodily fluids” could drain away.

The inquest at Westminster Coroners’ Court is investigating Mr Williams’ death, whose decomposing, naked body was found in a padlocked holdall in his bath at his flat in Pimlico in August 2010.

The issue of whether Mr Williams could lock himself in the bag is central to the inquiry and has fuelled theories that a third party was involved.

In the fifth and most dramatic day, video footage of attempts to recreate climbing in to a holdall and lock it was shown to the hearing.

Mr Faulding said he “cannot get this case out of my head” adding: “I cannot say it is impossible but I think even Houdini would struggle with this one.”

Crucially, he concluded: “I believe he was placed in the bag by a third person.”

He said had Mr Williams attempted it alone there would have been marks in or around the bath, which there was not.

Earlier, another expert in “unusual occurrences” and confined places suggested Mr Williams may have been able to do it but it was very unlikely.

William MacKay and a colleague tried and failed 100 times although they came “reasonably close” at times.

However, it appeared Mr MacKay’s attempts did not involve a bath.

Asked if it was possible, he said: “Without a lot of training probably not.”

Asked again by coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox if that meant it could not be done, he said: “I would not like to say that.

“There are people who can do amazing things and Mr Williams may well be one of those persons.”

On Thursday, the inquest heard how small traces of the date rape drug GHB were found in Mr Williams’ body.

Experts were also unable to rule out a series of poisons, including cyanide, anesthetics and chloroform, because the body was so badly decomposed it was not possible to accurately test for them.

Forensic scientist Denise Stanworth said the traces of GHB were “probably” naturally occurring, which is common after death, but admitted she could not rule out it had been taken.

She added that "we cannot rule out volatile agents" as she was asked how reliable toxicology can be nine days after death.

Ms Stanworth also said it was impossible to say if there was any sign of the legal high poppers, acknowledging that the drug "could have caused loss of consciousness or death".

MI6 also apologised for failing to raise the alarm about his disappearance, conceding the error may have hampered police inquiries.

Relatives walked out on the inquest in tears as a senior spy said the secret service was "profoundly sorry" for delays in noticing he was missing for a week.

The family's lawyer accused MI6 of showing "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety" before he was found dead in his London home on August 23, 2010.

Speaking from behind a screen, Mr Williams' boss offered a full apology for MI6's slow response to Mr Williams's disappearance in August 2010.

The woman - named only as SIS F - said: "We are profoundly sorry about what happened.

"It shouldn't have happened and we recognise that the delay in finding Gareth's body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his dreadful death and we are truly sorry for that.

"I also appreciate the delay had some impact on the police investigation."

SIS F blamed Mr Williams' line manager for the "breakdown in communication" but said disciplinary action was not taken.

When officers finally entered Mr Williams's flat in Pimlico, central London, they discovered among his possessions some £20,000 of high-end women's clothing and shoes.

Examination of his home computer showed he had also visited websites about claustrophilia - the love of enclosure - and bondage and sadomasochism, the inquest has heard.

Mr O'Toole told the witness of speculation "that revelations about Gareth's private life might have rendered him unsuitable for SIS work".

SIS F replied that it was a "sensitive area" of questioning as it related to vetting issues but indicated his lifestyle and sexual preferences would not in themselves have posed a problem.

"I can't respond directly to the questions over Gareth because that goes to what knowledge we did or didn't have of him," she said.

"There's no set template as to what (an employee's) lifestyle should be. Individuals have lifestyles and sexual choices which are perfectly legitimate.

"Our concern in the vetting process is to identify whether anything in the individual's background, lifestyle, creates a risk for him."

The hearing continues.

Gulf Times (Qatar) : MI6 played no part in spy death: officer

MI6 played no part in spy death: officer

London Evening Standard/London | April 27, 2012

MI6 yesterday denied allegations that its “black arts” were involved in the death of spy Gareth Williams, or in any related cover-up.

A senior officer told the Westminster coroner’s court inquest there was no evidence that MI6 knew about the codebreaker’s death until after police found his naked, decomposing body locked inside a sports bag.

Speaking anonymously from behind a screen, she denied Williams family claims that the “black arts” of an intelligence organisation were involved in the mysterious death.

The officer, referred to only as SIS F, said a “very comprehensive review” carried out by the intelligence agency 12 months after the death found no link with Williams’s security service work.

He had made some unauthorised searches on the secret intelligence service database, creating a “theoretical possibility” that he could have been open to blackmail by a “malign or hostile” foreign power. But there was no evidence that anyone knew about it, nor that any “foreign intelligence or security organisation” represented any threat to Williams.

He had been fully vetted and assessed as “very low risk”, said the officer.
Williams had not been required to inform his bosses about a collection of women’s clothing worth £20,000 in his Pimlico flat. But if he’d had any concerns about possible sexual preferences or lifestyle, he should have raised it with MI6 so any possible risk could be analysed, the officer said.

Williams, 31, was on secondment to MI6 from the GCHQ government listening post when he was found dead in 2010. The inquest has heard that he probably lay undiscovered for eight days before his family reported him missing, and that his MI6 line manager failed to raise the alarm.

Witness SIS F said Williams was “highly skilled” with a “very able technical brain” and rated by GCHQ as “a world-class contributor to his field”.

The hearing continues.

West End Extra : MI6 chiefs say sorry to family of Gareth Williams, the spy found dead in a locked holdall

MI6 chiefs say sorry to family of Gareth Williams, the spy found dead in a locked holdall

by JOSH LOEB | April 27, 2012

SENIOR member of the security services apologised to the family of spy Gareth Williams yesterday (Thursday) for MI6’s delay in raising the alarm until a week after the code-breaker first failed to show up for work.

Speaking from behind a screen, the witness, known only as “F” due to the sensitive nature of her work, said she was “profoundly sorry”.

She added that the 31-year-old’s absence should have become a matter of concern within hours of him failing to appear at his desk on August 16 2010. “F” added: “We acknowledge that the delay in finding Gareth’s body has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with his tragic death.”

Mr Williams’s body was found curled up in the foetal position inside a padlocked sports holdall in the bath of his top-floor, two-storey flat in Alderney Street, Pim­lico, on August 23.

The case remains shrouded in mystery despite a 21-month investigation and the inquest which today (Friday) enters its fifth day.

Westminster Coroner’s Court heard the dead body of the prodigious computer expert, who was known to colleagues as “the Swiss watch” because of his punctuality, could have lain undiscovered for as long as nine days.

“F” told the court that under MI6 protocol an investigation into the whereabouts of Mr Williams, who was on a secondment to the organ­isation from the GCHQ listening station in Cheltenham, should have been launched as early as two hours after he failed to appear for work.

Anthony O’Toole, a lawyer for Mr Williams’s family, said the delay had produced “horrendous results” as the family had been unable to “say goodbye properly” because the corpse had not been “in an acceptable state”.

He added: “Because of the decomposition of the body, any forensic evidence that could have been derived from it has disappeared, so the police investigation has in effect been defeated.”

Mr Williams’s family walked out of court in tears as “F” said no one had been disciplined for what Mr O’Toole called “this total disregard for Gareth’s whereabouts and safety”.

When coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox suggested there had been a “complete breakdown in communication” between Mr Williams and his line manager, “F” told the court she agreed.

She also said she did not believe that Mr Williams’s job – the details of which have been excluded due to national security – had been a factor in his death.

The court heard that Mr Williams, originally from Wales, had wanted to leave London to return to GCHQ and had received clearance to do so shortly before his death.

He had also recently returned to London from an annual digital security event, The Black Hat Conference, in Las Vegas.

“F” was asked by Dr Wilcox whether there was evidence from Mr Williams’s work compu­ter that indicated he had used restricted databases improperly to search for information unconnected with his work.

“F” said such searches had potentially taken place. But she said it would be better to describe the searches as “unexplained”.

Somewhat cryptically, Dr Wilcox also asked “F” whether contact with anyone from the central Asian country of Kyrgyzstan was something M16 employees were expected to report – but “F” said she was unable to answer for national security reasons.

On Wednesday, Superintendent Michael Broster, of the SO15 counter terrorism command, whose job was to liaise between homicide investigators and the secret services, said he had received “assurances” from his contact in MI6 that nothing on Mr Williams’s desk or computer had been tampered with prior to it being seized by police on August 27.

Mr O’Toole replied: “So, almost under the old boys act – they tell you that and you accept it, do you?”

The inquest continues.

Guardian : MI6 offers 'profound apology' for delay in reporting Gareth Williams missing

MI6 offers 'profound apology' for delay in reporting Gareth Williams missing

Inquest told delay had 'horrendous' consequences for police investigation into MI6 officer's death

Caroline Davies | April 26, 2012

The Secret Intelligence Service has offered a "profound apology" over delays in reporting MI6 officer Gareth Williams missing, as his inquest heard decomposition meant tests could not establish whether certain drugs or poisons were in his system.

Relatives of the 31-year-old, found dead in a padlocked bag in his flat, broke down as their lawyer said the delay had had "horrendous" consequences for the police investigation leaving it "in essence, almost defeated".

His mother, Ellen, was led sobbing from the court as the inquest heard her son's MI6 line manager, who failed to report him missing from work for seven days, had not faced disciplinary action.

Westminster coroner's court heard decomposition meant any possible presence of a number of substances and anaesthetic agents – such as amyl and alkyl nitrates (or poppers), chloroform, helium, and others which "could have caused poisoning and death" – would not have been detected in the body when the postmortem examination was conducted.

Williams's top-floor flat in Pimlico was extremely hot when his body was finally found on 23 August 2010, seven days after failing to turn up for work. Toxicology tests were conducted two days later.

They revealed alcohol and traces of the "date-rape" drug GHB in his blood and urine, but a panel of experts said both, which occur naturally, were "more likely to be down to decomposition". Forensic scientist Denise Stanworth said that although ingestion could not be completely ruled out, it was "more likely to be due to postmortem production" .

She thought it unlikely poisons had been administered, because of the lack of side effects such as vomit, but told the hearing it could not be ruled out.

The expert panel, which examined the test results, said it could not be established "whether Gareth was alive or dead when he entered the bag".

An SIS internal review had found no link between his death and the intelligence work Williams carried out for MI6 or for GCHQ, from where he was on secondment.

Speaking from behind a screen, a senior MI6 officer known only as F, denied "dark arts" were behind his death, but did concede "theoretically" that a "malign or hostile party" could have put pressure on him.

She apologised to his family as their lawyer, Anthony O'Toole, accused SIS of showing "a total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety".

"We are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened. We recognise that the delay has made it even harder for the family to come to terms with Gareth's death."

"I also appreciate the delay had some impact on the police investigation," she said.

She was asked if aspects of Williams's private life – the inquest has heard of his £20,000 collection of women's clothes, and that he accessed websites about claustrophilia, bondage and sadomasochism – might have "rendered him unsuitable for SIS work".

She replied it was "a sensitive area" of questioning as it related to vetting issues, but in general lifestyle and sexual preferences would not in themselves have posed a problem.

Williams, whose job was "developing practical applications for emerging technologies" was described as a "fully deployable highly talented officer", said F.

There was no reason to think foreign intelligence services or security organisation represented a threat to him. His security assessment was that he was "low risk", said F. His work had never taken him to Russia or Afghanistan, contrary to media speculation, the inquest heard. He had been on operational deployment only in the UK.

Contrary to media reports, the flat he was living in was "not an SIS safe house", said F, who understood it had been rented through his employers at GCHQ.

SIS did not carry out an independent internal investigation into his death. But 12 months later, they conducted a "comprehensive internal review".

"It confirmed we had no evidence of any specific threat to Gareth arising out of his work for SIS," said F. It concluded there was no reason to think his death was in any way connected with his job.

His role was to "think up and design technology" to support other operators. "He had a highly skilled, very able technical brain," said F.

"Everyone in SIS found him a very pleasant individual, a good colleague, respected for his talents. An intensely private individual," said F. She added Williams did not socialise with colleagues out of work. "He liked to keep his work life very separate from the rest of his life."

The hearing continues.