This Is London : Heartbreak and conspiracy theories in home village of the spy-in-the bag

Heartbreak and conspiracy theories in home village of the spy-in-the bag

‘This is David Kelly all over again — a cover-up. There was no evidence... It doesn’t add up’ -- Schoolfriend David Jones

Kiran Randhawa | April 20, 2012

The inhabitants of Holyhead and surrounding villages are well-versed in the various theories about Gareth Williams’s mysterious death.

One thing they — as well as those closer to him — are resigned to, however, is never knowing the truth.

Friends of the MI6 spy, who grew up in the remote Welsh outpost, said they fear he will become “another victim” of a “cover-up” by British authorities, likening his death to that of weapons expert David Kelly.

They are less than optimistic that next week’s inquest, or any other exhaustive inquiry, will yield answers to bring his family some sense of peace.

Since their son’s body was found crammed into a sports bag, Ian and Ellen Williams have withdrawn from the local community. Mr Williams, a keen runner who was often out jogging prior to the tragedy, is rarely seen. But it appears that the electrical engineer, who works at the local Wylfa nuclear power station, is coping better than his wife.

Mrs Williams rarely leaves the modest family bungalow in the village of Valley and has not worked since her son’s death.

Gareth Williams’s elder sister Ceri Subbe, a married physiotherapist who lives in Chester, was described by friends as “sensitive” and “badly damaged” by his death. She is among 30 witnesses, including MI6 officers, due to give evidence at the inquest.

Mr Williams’s grandfather John Owen, who lives locally and recently had heart surgery, was “traumatised” by the tragedy. Trefor Lloyd Hughes, 64, a councillor and close friend of the family said: “They are such kind people. This has shocked them to the core. They really are suffering.”

Building company boss Keith Thompson, 64, a cycling friend of Gareth Williams from Trearddur Bay, said: “We would like to hear the truth next week but we won’t get it. This will be another David Kelly. It’s a cover-up and I believe it is possible our secret services were involved.”

Mr Thompson used to run Holyhead Cycling Club and had known the GCHQ codebreaker since he was 14, when he joined. Mr Williams, from a “very athletic” family, excelled at the sport. “The family is devastated,” said Mr Thompson. “His mother in particular has taken it badly. Her life is ruined. It has hit her the hardest. They were all very close. They tell you that they are just living and coping day by day. I don’t think the family will ever get justice or peace.”

He said he last saw Mr Williams in May 2010, three months before his death, when he returned home for a cycle race.

David Jones, 31, who went to school with Mr Williams, said: “This is David Kelly all over again. A cover-up. There was no evidence at the scene, it just doesn’t add up.”

Mr Williams was considered a child prodigy by the locals. He did his A-levels at 14 and went to study maths at Bangor University at 15. After graduating with a first at 17, he studied for a PhD in computer science at the University of Manchester, going on to Cambridge for a postgraduate certificate in advanced maths before GCHQ approached him in 2001. He was on secondment to MI6 when police found him dead at his Pimlico flat in August 2010.

At a pre-inquest hearing last month, the family’s lawyer Anthony O’Toole said there was a “high probability” a third person was in the flat when Mr Williams died. “The unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, and perhaps evidence was removed from the scene post mortem by an expert in those dark arts.”

Mirror : Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

Was body-in-the-bag spy betrayed by a double agent? Mole theory over MI6 codebreaker's death

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

March 10, 2012

In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams

The expert codebreaker’s decomposing body was found locked in a large sportsbag in the bath of his London flat in 2010.

There were no obvious signs of how he died or who was responsible – with many claiming a “wall of silence” surrounding his death points to a cover-up at the very heart of the British establishment.

And now it has been revealed Gareth may have been betrayed by a British double agent.

Security bosses are trying to establish if a mole somewhere within intelligence revealed his identity to foreign assassins.

The brilliant mathematician, 31, was working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and would have been a high value target – vital in producing hi-tech defences to prevent cyber attacks on our most secret government departments.

He was one of only a handful of spies launching effective counter attacks to stop enemy hackers infiltrating British networks.

Williams had been seconded from the top-secret Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham to MI6 in the capital.

He was making clandestine visits to Washington to team up with US espionage agents and share intelligence in operations to fend off hostile hacking infiltrations by Russia and China.

Eighteen months after his bizarre death, investigators are still piecing together his every move to try to get information which could lead them back to a British double agent.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, refuses to rule out the possibility that British national security has been breached by the death.

He said: “Reassurance can only be given if it’s based on some new information, and only those who have the skills and the responsibility to carry out such an investigation can take that forward. There have been exhaustive inquiries but they have been unable to reach a conclusion.”

North Wales-born Williams’s parents, Ian and Ellen, hope more will be revealed when a full inquest is opened next month.

They have been told by MI6 chiefs not to talk about his death, while police and security officers have also remained tight-lipped – fuelling speculation the British establishment does not want to reveal what happened to one of its most valued agents.

It was 4.40pm on August 23, 2010, when his naked, contorted body was found by police, zipped and padlocked in a red, 140-litre-capacity North Face hold-all in the bath of his top-floor apartment owned by MI6.

There were no signs of a struggle within flat 4, Alderney Street, Pimlico, less than a mile away from MI6’s HQ, across Vauxhall Bridge.

The key to the bag’s Yale lock was in the hold-all and police said forensic tests showed at least one other person was involved but have not been able to prove it was murder and do not think he killed himself.

Williams, a 9st cycling enthusiast, had not showed up at work for days when an officer went to the flat. Police said he probably died eight days earlier – just weeks after a man and woman of Mediterranean appearance had called at his flat.

Mystery also surrounds a break-in at the flat in the months before – while more twists and turns in the story led to lurid tales about his private life.

One claimed he was a transvestite who police thought may have been murdered by a gay lover.

And the most extreme claim was that he may have died in an auto-erotic asphyxiation sex game gone wrong.

Police also revealed he had £15,000 worth of unworn women’s designer clothing, shoes and wigs in his flat, but his friends believe many of these stories were planted to cloud the investigation.

Crispin Black, an intelligence analyst and former adviser to the Government, says the most likely explanation is that Williams was murdered.

“The thing has a professional air – it’s neat, it’s tidy, it’s organised,” he said.

“A bath is where you put things if you don’t want any forensic residue to be left behind – because you know where the body’s been and you can clear up after it.”

The fact the body was found locked in a holdall, with the key inside, provides the strongest indication he was executed by a foreign death squad.

Investigators believe the team were so expert at their deadly trade, they left no obvious signs of the cause of death.

A security source said: “This has all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination. If you’ve got a problem with your codes being broken, the only solution is to remove the codebreaker.

"They’re incredibly hard to replace because they are recruited for having the sharpest mathematical brains.

"There’s always suspicion about the Russians because in many ways the Cold War never completely ended.”

The possibility of a British intelligence mole has to be a huge worry for national security.

Professor Anthony Glees, director of security and intelligence studies at the independent University of Buckingham, said: “Sir Malcolm himself says he could not give the public reassurance that national security had not been breached by Gareth Williams’s death.

"I think we need an answer, especially in light of the fact that this year, with the Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, we are clearly a target.

“It’s a possibility that there is a spy and that someone betrayed Gareth Williams.

"It’s by no means unthinkable he was targeted by intelligence officials from other countries who believed he was targeting them.”

The police have not spoken publicly about the death for a year.

And Williams family friend Trefor Lloyd Hughes, 64, said: “I have no doubt some higher influences will be involved here which may stop certain information from getting through, but the family need peace.”

Even before his secondment to MI6, his work in signals intelligence at GCHQ would have put him on the front line in the international cyber war, helping to combat insurgent bombers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Codebreakers, phone and radio interceptors and internet experts fight the triple threat of terrorism, espionage and organised crime.

At Williams’s funeral at the windswept Bethel Chapel in Holyhead, Anglesey, his family were consoled by MI6 chief Sir John Sawyers, who said: “Gareth did really valuable work with us in the cause of national security.”

Back in Anglesey, those who knew Gareth Williams would no doubt like to know if it was that cause which he ended up giving his life for.

Evening Standard : Body-in-bag spy's family demand answers from inquest 18 months on

Body-in-bag spy's family demand answers from inquest 18 months on

Kiran Randhawa | February 20, 2012

The family of an MI6 spy found dead in a sports bag are demanding that they are finally told what happened to him.

The badly decomposed body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found 18 months ago in a holdall in the bath of his flat in Pimlico. Although a series of toxicology tests was performed to determine what caused his death, it still remains unexplained.

A pre-inquest review into the case will be held on March 29 at Westminster coroner's court, and a full inquest is expected to begin three weeks later.

Mr Williams's family hope a blanket of secrecy over the case will finally be lifted.
Trefor Lloyd Hughes, a friend of the family, told the Standard: "They need to know what happened to Gareth. I hope we finally get some real answers.

"Let's hope the family can gain some solace at last. They have been in the dark for so long and have no idea what happened to their son.

"They need answers to end their agony. I have no doubt some higher influences will be involved here which may stop certain information from getting through, but I would say the family need peace."

Mr Hughes, 64, a councillor and retired ambulance worker from Holyhead, Anglesey, lived across the road from Mr Williams's parents Ian and Ellen for several years. Their sons grew up together and he remains a good friend of the family.

He added: "It's taken so long for this inquest to come along. I will be really disappointed if further information comes out years down the line that didn't come out during this inquest.

"It will be hard for his parents to go through it, but we are all hoping this will be the end. You do get annoyed they have had to wait this long though. It's absolutely disgraceful."

As many as 40 of Mr Williams's colleagues from GCHQ and MI6 are expected to give evidence at the inquest, although their testimony is likely to be heard in secret to protect their identities.

Police found the cycling enthusiast's naked body zipped and padlocked in a red North Face holdall on August 23 2010 at his flat less than a mile from MI6's headquarters in Vauxhall. There were no signs of a struggle.

The property was used by MI6 as a safe house. Mr Williams, a GCHQ codebreaker on secondment, had not been at work for several days.