A very bizarre death gives an insight into a very secret service
Nigel West | April 30, 2012
The death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams has shown that the reality of British espionage is stranger than any fiction. Spy writer Nigel West was at the inquest.
To hear shrieks, and then sobbing, at any inquest is harrowing. Such high emotion seems particularly at odds with the detached image many of us have of the world of spying. Yet last week during evidence into the death of the intelligence officer Gareth Williams, a female family member dramatically broke down in tears, and the hearing had to be adjourned.
Last week, the outside world had a rare glimpse into the shadowy world of MI6. At the coroner's court in Westminster, London, the focus of attention was Gareth 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.
At the opening on Monday, the coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox promised she would oversee "a full, fair and fearless inquest into this highly controversial death", with more than 30 witnesses questioned. And indeed, this was the first time that many of us could learn some of the details of the circumstances surrounding Williams's bizarre death.
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 it was one of the strangest events I have witnessed. Because of the presence of Williams's parents and sister, it was agonising and troubling, too.
The 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 who later destroyed evidence. There have also been blunders.
At an interim hearing ahead of last week's inquest, it was revealed that DNA evidence found on 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 Williams's death, and who the police were keen to track down, turned out to be insignificant to the case. These mistakes have only helped fuel the conspiracy theories surrounding Williams's 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. Large blue screens were used to protect their identities (the family was allowed behind the screens, the rest of us were outside). The atmosphere was subdued; a rare moment of levity only when someone's mobile phone went off, and the coroner joked she had done the same herself some weeks before.
Yet if the entire episode were not so tragic, it could have been an exercise in absurdity. Even by the end of the week, the coroner had yet to grasp some of the basics of the espionage world, such as the difference between MI6 "officers" and their "agents".
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. His precise skills - or their application by MI6 - cannot be discussed in public. We do know, however, that in 2007 he applied for a transfer to MI6, only to flunk the aptitude test administered by GCHQ, which suggested he lacked the requisite self-confidence. A year later he re-sat the exam and passed, which resulted in him moving in 2009 into an office - shared with Witness G (a member of MI6 who gave evidence) and three others - in "Legoland", as MI6's embarrassingly ostentatious headquarters at Vauxhall Cross are known.
Williams was a geek: private, shy and, reportedly, with a slight stammer. He did not socialise with colleagues, and none are known to have visited his top-floor flat. His sister had said in court last Monday 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, but declined to join his fellow officers who shared the same pastimes, and exercised alone.
His private life was just that, and it came as a shock to those who thought they knew him that he had attended a six-week course in fashion design at the Central St Martin's College, and had accumulated a collection of women's designer clothes, shoes and boots - valued at £20,000 - lipstick and an orange wig.
Such interests, according to MI6, were of no concern to the organisation, although an audit of his office computer revealed some database searches that did not appear to be connected with his work. Under the terms of a Public Interest Immunity Certificate signed by the Foreign Secretary, we are not allowed to know the precise nature of this unauthorised activity. According to a senior MI6 officer - identified only as F - Williams might have been able to provide a satisfactory explanation for his apparently illicit access.
On Thursday, a particularly upsetting detail of Williams's death was revealed. The officer known as F had said the secret service was "profoundly sorry" that his absence went unreported for five days after Williams, a meticulous time-keeper, had failed to show up for work. She blamed his line manager - Witness G - for a breakdown in communication, but said G should not face any disciplinary action. This confession greatly distressed Williams's mother, Ellen, sitting with her family inside the partition screening witnesses from the public area.
Later, it was revealed that when MI6 realised that Williams was missing, F had telephoned the police. In the conversation, taped by the police and played to the court, F said that 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 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 claustrophilia - 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 Williams alone when he died in the early hours of that summer morning, or, though there was no sign of a break-in, was someone else involved?
On Friday we heard from Peter Faulding, a former Parachute Regiment reservist and an expert in confined spaces, who said he was convinced another person was involved in putting Williams into the holdall and locking it. The court was shown a video of an attempt to climb into and lock a holdall of the same size. Mr Faulding said he had tried it 300 times and had failed every time. "My belief is that he was placed in there by a third party," he said.
The other question, then, is whether Williams's death was linked to his job. A police investigation concluded that he had died from unknown causes, but most likely asphyxiation and dehydration. Detective Superintendent Michael Broster of Counter-Terrorism Command - who has spent 31 years in the police and acted as the liaison between MI6 and the detectives - opined that there was nothing to link the death to Williams's professional occupation, and no sign of a cover-up. Mind you, there was not much need for any covering up: for motives unknown, Williams had been quite successful in deleting the internet browsing history of his laptops, and completely reset one of his mobile phones, thereby emptying its memory.
According to MI6, in May 2009 Williams had filled a GCHQ slot at Vauxhall Cross, but had recently been granted a transfer back to Cheltenham. He had found his work boring, constrained by too much administration. Instead, he longed to resume his technical research and live in the countryside. Although he had undergone five training courses, and had passed an operational deployment course in February 2010 with flying colours, he had been determined to return to Gloucestershire. Once his request had been approved, he appeared much more relaxed.
The conspiracy theories - that 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, or should have been - have all been scotched. His flat was rented by GCHQ, and he had never been sent on any foreign operations. He only ever met two MI6 agents, defined with bureaucratic accuracy by MI6 as "covert human intelligence sources", and the operations he participated in had been undertaken in England.
In short, he was a loner who failed to fit in at Legoland. As for his private life, MI6 is now very broadminded about individual lifestyles, and anything legal is considered acceptable. Kinky sex is fine; the days when the wretched former MI6 Chief Maurice Oldfield had felt obliged to lie for decades on his enhanced vetting questionnaire about his homosexuality are long gone.
Still, the delay in reporting him AWOL is reminiscent of MI6's past culture, when officers were encouraged to show initiative, be self-starters, think laterally and exercise some independence. Now the organisation is wholly risk-averse, awash with lawyers, and resembles a particularly staid branch of the Department of Work and Pensions.
Although in theory G should have followed the protocol and started to suspect a problem when 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 or operation, and not everyone is likely to be indoctrinated into some of these activities. 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 today's MI6 is its dependency on personnel seconded from other organisations where there is not a clearly defined chain of command and responsibility. As Williams was due to leave London 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.
* Nigel West is the pen name of Rupert Allason, a military historian and author specialising in intelligence and security issues. His new book, Historical Dictionary of Chinese Intelligence, will be published in July.
The Sunday Telegraph, London
Showing posts with label Witness F. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Witness F. Show all posts
SMH : A very bizarre death gives an insight into a very secret service
Monday, April 30, 2012
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Pakistan Observer : Poison not ruled out in MI6 spy death
Friday, April 27, 2012
Poison not ruled out in MI6 spy death
April 27, 2012
London—Forensic scientists cannot establish if a British spy was poisoned before being padlocked in a bag because it took his employers MI6 a week to realise he was missing, an inquest has heard. Forensic expert Denise Stanworth told the hearing in London that “we cannot rule out volatile agents” in the death of Gareth Williams two years ago as she was asked how reliable toxicology tests can be nine days after death. The decomposition of the body made it impossible to establish exactly which substances were present in the codebreaker’s body, she said.
Williams’ boss at MI6, Britain’s external intelligence agency, earlier apologised to the 31-year-old’s family for failing to raise the alarm about his disappearance and conceded the error may have hampered police inquiries. Speaking Thursday from behind a screen, the woman — identified only as Witness F — offered a full apology for MI6’s slow response to Williams’s disappearance in August 2010. ”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.
“Williams’ relatives left the hearing in tears after it was revealed MI6 had failed to realise he was missing. When police finally entered Williams’ flat in Pimlico, central London, they found his naked body padlocked in a red holdall placed in his bath. Police have been unable to establish a cause of death, though they have unearthed no proof that anyone was with him when he died.
AFP
April 27, 2012
London—Forensic scientists cannot establish if a British spy was poisoned before being padlocked in a bag because it took his employers MI6 a week to realise he was missing, an inquest has heard. Forensic expert Denise Stanworth told the hearing in London that “we cannot rule out volatile agents” in the death of Gareth Williams two years ago as she was asked how reliable toxicology tests can be nine days after death. The decomposition of the body made it impossible to establish exactly which substances were present in the codebreaker’s body, she said.
Williams’ boss at MI6, Britain’s external intelligence agency, earlier apologised to the 31-year-old’s family for failing to raise the alarm about his disappearance and conceded the error may have hampered police inquiries. Speaking Thursday from behind a screen, the woman — identified only as Witness F — offered a full apology for MI6’s slow response to Williams’s disappearance in August 2010. ”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.
“Williams’ relatives left the hearing in tears after it was revealed MI6 had failed to realise he was missing. When police finally entered Williams’ flat in Pimlico, central London, they found his naked body padlocked in a red holdall placed in his bath. Police have been unable to establish a cause of death, though they have unearthed no proof that anyone was with him when he died.
AFP
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Belfast Telegraph : Mother breaks down as MI6 says sorry for failures over 'body-in-bag' spy death
Friday, April 27, 2012
Mother breaks down as MI6 says sorry for failures over 'body-in-bag' spy death
Kim Sengupta | April 27, 2012
MI6 yesterday offered a public apology to the family of Gareth Williams for the failure to investigate the disappearance of the intelligence officer whose body was later found in a padlocked bag in his London flat.
Mr Williams's mother, Ellen, broke down in tears after a Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) official – called Witness F – told an inquest into his death that her son's immediate boss, who admitted he had not followed procedure, had not faced any disciplinary action.
Witness F said: "We are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened and we recognise 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 inquest at Westminster Coroners' Court heard the delay meant it could not be ruled out that Mr Williams was poisoned. Traces of a drug matching the party drug GHB was found in his blood. Forensic scientist Denise Stanworth said because up to nine days had passed after his death before his body was found "we cannot rule out volatile agents".
She added it was impossible to say if there was any sign of the legal high "poppers", acknowledging the drug "could have caused loss of consciousness or death". She also stressed, however, the symptoms are likely to have appeared naturally after Mr Williams' death.
Anthony O'Toole QC, for the family, accused MI6 of a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety". He blamed the delay for preventing the family from saying goodbye to Mr Williams while his body was in an "acceptable form" and for making it more or less impossible for police to establish how he 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," he said. It emerged at yesterday's hearing that Mr Williams, 34, a cipher expert, had carried out unauthorised searches on the MI6 website and this, according to Witness F, could have "theoretically" put him at risk from "hostile and malign" forces.
However, Witness F maintained that evidence of Mr Williams's sexual practices, which included him visiting 'claustrophilia' and bondage and sadomasochism websites, and the discovery of £20,000 worth of female designer clothing at his home would not have made him a security risk. Mr O'Toole told Witness F of speculation "that revelations about Gareth's private life might have rendered him unsuitable for SIS work". Witness F responded "There's no set template as to what (an employee's) lifestyle should be. Individuals have lifestyles and sexual choices which are perfectly legitimate."
At an earlier hearing Mr O'Toole said the family believed Mr Williams may have been executed by secret agents specialising in the "dark arts" with a cover-up organised to ensure his killers did not face justice. But Witness F insisted an internal review found there was "no evidence of any specific threat to Gareth and we concluded there was no reason to think his death was anything to do with his work".
Witness F said Mr Williams was "a fully deployable, highly talented officer" who had passed exams to carry out difficult covert work six months before he was found dead in August 2010. He had only been deployed in the UK, and not in Afghanistan or Russia as some media reports had claimed. He was on secondment with MI6 in London when he died but he had requested to return to his role at GCHQ, which had been accepted.
The inquest continues.
Kim Sengupta | April 27, 2012
MI6 yesterday offered a public apology to the family of Gareth Williams for the failure to investigate the disappearance of the intelligence officer whose body was later found in a padlocked bag in his London flat.
Mr Williams's mother, Ellen, broke down in tears after a Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) official – called Witness F – told an inquest into his death that her son's immediate boss, who admitted he had not followed procedure, had not faced any disciplinary action.
Witness F said: "We are profoundly sorry about what happened. It shouldn't have happened and we recognise 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 inquest at Westminster Coroners' Court heard the delay meant it could not be ruled out that Mr Williams was poisoned. Traces of a drug matching the party drug GHB was found in his blood. Forensic scientist Denise Stanworth said because up to nine days had passed after his death before his body was found "we cannot rule out volatile agents".
She added it was impossible to say if there was any sign of the legal high "poppers", acknowledging the drug "could have caused loss of consciousness or death". She also stressed, however, the symptoms are likely to have appeared naturally after Mr Williams' death.
Anthony O'Toole QC, for the family, accused MI6 of a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety". He blamed the delay for preventing the family from saying goodbye to Mr Williams while his body was in an "acceptable form" and for making it more or less impossible for police to establish how he 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," he said. It emerged at yesterday's hearing that Mr Williams, 34, a cipher expert, had carried out unauthorised searches on the MI6 website and this, according to Witness F, could have "theoretically" put him at risk from "hostile and malign" forces.
However, Witness F maintained that evidence of Mr Williams's sexual practices, which included him visiting 'claustrophilia' and bondage and sadomasochism websites, and the discovery of £20,000 worth of female designer clothing at his home would not have made him a security risk. Mr O'Toole told Witness F of speculation "that revelations about Gareth's private life might have rendered him unsuitable for SIS work". Witness F responded "There's no set template as to what (an employee's) lifestyle should be. Individuals have lifestyles and sexual choices which are perfectly legitimate."
At an earlier hearing Mr O'Toole said the family believed Mr Williams may have been executed by secret agents specialising in the "dark arts" with a cover-up organised to ensure his killers did not face justice. But Witness F insisted an internal review found there was "no evidence of any specific threat to Gareth and we concluded there was no reason to think his death was anything to do with his work".
Witness F said Mr Williams was "a fully deployable, highly talented officer" who had passed exams to carry out difficult covert work six months before he was found dead in August 2010. He had only been deployed in the UK, and not in Afghanistan or Russia as some media reports had claimed. He was on secondment with MI6 in London when he died but he had requested to return to his role at GCHQ, which had been accepted.
The inquest continues.
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Sky : Spy Inquest: MI6 'Profoundly Sorry' For Delay
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Spy Inquest: MI6 'Profoundly Sorry' For Delay
By Mark Stone | April 26, 2012
An MI6 officer has apologised for failing to raise the alarm about the disappearance of spy Gareth Williams whose body was found in a padlocked sports bag in his London flat.
Relatives of Mr Williams walked out of the inquest into his death in tears after they heard the secret service witness say she was "profoundly sorry" for the pain it had caused.
The senior MI6 intelligence officer, known only as witness 'F', said that Mr Williams' line manager, known as witness 'G', did not report that Mr Williams had been 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 - 12 days after he failed to turn up to work.
Witness 'F' said that witness 'G' had not been the subject of any disciplinary action despite the delay.
Mr Williams' naked and decomposing body was found in the large holdall in the bath of his home in Alderney Street, Pimlico.
Some 20-months on his death still remains a mystery.
Giving evidence from behind a screen to protect her identity, witness 'F' said there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Williams' death was connected to his work.
She said when he had been vetted to work - both with GCHQ , the government listening station, and MI6 - he was rated very low risk.
No foreign intelligence agency was aware of Mr Williams or the job he did, so there was no threat to him and neither was he ever a target, she said.
His work was based in the UK, she said, dismissing reports that he had been to Russia and Afghanistan.
The GCHQ codebreaker was working at MI6, where he was just a few days away from finishing a year-long secondment.
Relatives of the 31-year-old have demanded to find out if his death was covered up by secret services - and why the alarm was not raised when he failed to turn up to work.
Officer 'F' told the inquest she had "no knowledge" of a cover-up.
She said no secret agents went into Mr Williams' flat before or after his body was found - and neither had counter-terrorism police or other agencies.
Asked if Mr Williams' flat was an MI6 "safehouse", the witness replied: "It was not."
Toxicologist Denise Stanworth told the inquest that Mr Williams was probably not poisoned or drugged when he died.
But she said she could not "rule out volatile agents" because toxicology tests on Mr Williams were carried out nine days after his death.
The inquest is operating under some unusual restrictions. As well as some of the witnesses appearing from behind screens, some of the witnesses are restricted over what they can say.
Witness 'F' declined to answer specific questions about the vetting process which cleared Mr Williams to work at MI6.
She also hesitated before answering questions about whether intelligence officers should report contact with foreign nationals from certain countries.
When asked whether friendships with US nationals needed to be reported to MI6 bosses, witness 'F' said: "I am not sure I can answer that." She paused and then said that no reporting of US friendships was required.
But when asked about contact with a Kurdish national needed to be recorded, she refused to answer the question.
Mr Williams is thought to have had possible contact with Kurdish man through his friend Elizabeth Guthrie.
Journalists, photographers and editors covering the inquest were also warned again today about not identifying any members of SIS.
On Wednesday, the inquest heard that Mr Williams had once been found tied to his bed, calling for help.
He was working at GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, at the time and had to be untied by his landlady.
Scotland Yard told the hearing on Monday that investigations were on-going and that there was still a "real possibility" of criminal charges over the death.
Mr Williams' sister, Ceri Subbe, revealed that her brother had been due to return to the West Country a week after his body was discovered.
He had complained of "friction" at work and was unhappy with life in the capital, she said.
By Mark Stone | April 26, 2012
An MI6 officer has apologised for failing to raise the alarm about the disappearance of spy Gareth Williams whose body was found in a padlocked sports bag in his London flat.
Relatives of Mr Williams walked out of the inquest into his death in tears after they heard the secret service witness say she was "profoundly sorry" for the pain it had caused.
The senior MI6 intelligence officer, known only as witness 'F', said that Mr Williams' line manager, known as witness 'G', did not report that Mr Williams had been 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 - 12 days after he failed to turn up to work.
Witness 'F' said that witness 'G' had not been the subject of any disciplinary action despite the delay.
Mr Williams' naked and decomposing body was found in the large holdall in the bath of his home in Alderney Street, Pimlico.
Some 20-months on his death still remains a mystery.
Giving evidence from behind a screen to protect her identity, witness 'F' said there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Williams' death was connected to his work.
She said when he had been vetted to work - both with GCHQ , the government listening station, and MI6 - he was rated very low risk.
No foreign intelligence agency was aware of Mr Williams or the job he did, so there was no threat to him and neither was he ever a target, she said.
His work was based in the UK, she said, dismissing reports that he had been to Russia and Afghanistan.
The GCHQ codebreaker was working at MI6, where he was just a few days away from finishing a year-long secondment.
Relatives of the 31-year-old have demanded to find out if his death was covered up by secret services - and why the alarm was not raised when he failed to turn up to work.
Officer 'F' told the inquest she had "no knowledge" of a cover-up.
She said no secret agents went into Mr Williams' flat before or after his body was found - and neither had counter-terrorism police or other agencies.
Asked if Mr Williams' flat was an MI6 "safehouse", the witness replied: "It was not."
Toxicologist Denise Stanworth told the inquest that Mr Williams was probably not poisoned or drugged when he died.
But she said she could not "rule out volatile agents" because toxicology tests on Mr Williams were carried out nine days after his death.
The inquest is operating under some unusual restrictions. As well as some of the witnesses appearing from behind screens, some of the witnesses are restricted over what they can say.
Witness 'F' declined to answer specific questions about the vetting process which cleared Mr Williams to work at MI6.
She also hesitated before answering questions about whether intelligence officers should report contact with foreign nationals from certain countries.
When asked whether friendships with US nationals needed to be reported to MI6 bosses, witness 'F' said: "I am not sure I can answer that." She paused and then said that no reporting of US friendships was required.
But when asked about contact with a Kurdish national needed to be recorded, she refused to answer the question.
Mr Williams is thought to have had possible contact with Kurdish man through his friend Elizabeth Guthrie.
Journalists, photographers and editors covering the inquest were also warned again today about not identifying any members of SIS.
On Wednesday, the inquest heard that Mr Williams had once been found tied to his bed, calling for help.
He was working at GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, at the time and had to be untied by his landlady.
Scotland Yard told the hearing on Monday that investigations were on-going and that there was still a "real possibility" of criminal charges over the death.
Mr Williams' sister, Ceri Subbe, revealed that her brother had been due to return to the West Country a week after his body was discovered.
He had complained of "friction" at work and was unhappy with life in the capital, she said.
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National Post : MI6 denies cover-up in British ’spy-in-bag’ case
Thursday, April 26, 2012
MI6 denies cover-up in British ’spy-in-bag’ case
Reuters | April 26, 2012
Gareth Williams death: MI6 denies cover-up in British ’spy-in-bag’ murder case
LONDON — Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service denied on Thursday that the mysterious death of one of its agents whose naked body was found in a padlocked bag had anything to do with his work or that it had covered the episode up.
The decomposing body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found in August 2010 inside a red sports bag in his bathtub at his central London flat, a week after he had failed to show up to work.
A lawyer for his family has said it was their belief that “a member of some agency specializing in the dark arts of the secret services” was involved in removing evidence related to his death, stoking media speculation that he was murdered by foreign spies.
But in testimony given from behind a screen to protect her identity at his inquest, an MI6 employee known only as “F” said there was no evidence to suggest the agency was involved in a cover-up of Williams’ death or that his death was work-related.
“There was no reason to think his death was in any way connected to his work,” the witness said. Nor, she added, was there any evidence that Williams’ identity as an MI6 officer had been discovered by any foreign agencies.
Williams, a mathematics prodigy on a three-year secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in western England, did technical work for MI6.
His role was to “think up and design technology that could be used by others” in his four-person team, said “F”.
He had successfully completed a training course for conducting operations within Britain, but was still involved in relatively low-risk activities, she added.
AN APOLOGY
Williams’ body was discovered inside his Pimlico flat on Aug. 23 two years ago.
He had been scheduled to attend a work meeting on Aug. 16 but did not show up, and there were several other meetings that week that he had been expected to attend but did not.
If normal agency procedures had been carried out, “F” said that action would have been taken within two to four hours after he had failed to show up for work.
“It took far too long,” she said. “There are chains of steps one can take upon non-arrival within the second hour.” She added: “We are very sorry for that.”
Witness “F” said he understood that the delay in finding Williams’ body had made it more difficult for his family to come to terms with his death.
As far as she knew, there had been no disciplinary action taken against anyone responsible for the delay in the discovery of the body, she said.
Williams’ death has puzzled investigators, who have struggled to understand how he ended up in the bag, which also contained keys that would have unlocked its padlock. There were no signs of a struggle.
On Tuesday, Jackie Sebire, a detective on Williams’ case, testified she believed someone had helped him get into the bag. Specks of unknown DNA were found on it.
Inside the flat, police also found women’s clothing and make-up. Witness “F” said Williams’ job did not require him to dress in women’s clothing.
The inquest heard on Wednesday that several years earlier, he had been found tied to his bed at his lodgings unable to free himself. He told his landlady at the time he had wanted to see if he could free himself.
© Thomson Reuters 2012
Reuters | April 26, 2012
Gareth Williams death: MI6 denies cover-up in British ’spy-in-bag’ murder case
LONDON — Britain’s MI6 foreign intelligence service denied on Thursday that the mysterious death of one of its agents whose naked body was found in a padlocked bag had anything to do with his work or that it had covered the episode up.
The decomposing body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found in August 2010 inside a red sports bag in his bathtub at his central London flat, a week after he had failed to show up to work.
A lawyer for his family has said it was their belief that “a member of some agency specializing in the dark arts of the secret services” was involved in removing evidence related to his death, stoking media speculation that he was murdered by foreign spies.
But in testimony given from behind a screen to protect her identity at his inquest, an MI6 employee known only as “F” said there was no evidence to suggest the agency was involved in a cover-up of Williams’ death or that his death was work-related.
“There was no reason to think his death was in any way connected to his work,” the witness said. Nor, she added, was there any evidence that Williams’ identity as an MI6 officer had been discovered by any foreign agencies.
Williams, a mathematics prodigy on a three-year secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in western England, did technical work for MI6.
His role was to “think up and design technology that could be used by others” in his four-person team, said “F”.
He had successfully completed a training course for conducting operations within Britain, but was still involved in relatively low-risk activities, she added.
AN APOLOGY
Williams’ body was discovered inside his Pimlico flat on Aug. 23 two years ago.
He had been scheduled to attend a work meeting on Aug. 16 but did not show up, and there were several other meetings that week that he had been expected to attend but did not.
If normal agency procedures had been carried out, “F” said that action would have been taken within two to four hours after he had failed to show up for work.
“It took far too long,” she said. “There are chains of steps one can take upon non-arrival within the second hour.” She added: “We are very sorry for that.”
Witness “F” said he understood that the delay in finding Williams’ body had made it more difficult for his family to come to terms with his death.
As far as she knew, there had been no disciplinary action taken against anyone responsible for the delay in the discovery of the body, she said.
Williams’ death has puzzled investigators, who have struggled to understand how he ended up in the bag, which also contained keys that would have unlocked its padlock. There were no signs of a struggle.
On Tuesday, Jackie Sebire, a detective on Williams’ case, testified she believed someone had helped him get into the bag. Specks of unknown DNA were found on it.
Inside the flat, police also found women’s clothing and make-up. Witness “F” said Williams’ job did not require him to dress in women’s clothing.
The inquest heard on Wednesday that several years earlier, he had been found tied to his bed at his lodgings unable to free himself. He told his landlady at the time he had wanted to see if he could free himself.
© Thomson Reuters 2012
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AFP : Poison not ruled out in MI6 spy death
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Poison not ruled out in MI6 spy death
April 26, 2012
LONDON — Forensic scientists cannot establish if a British spy was poisoned before being padlocked in a bag because it took his employers MI6 a week to realise he was missing, an inquest has heard.
Forensic expert Denise Stanworth told the hearing in London that "we cannot rule out volatile agents" in the death of Gareth Williams two years ago as she was asked how reliable toxicology tests can be nine days after death.
The decomposition of the body made it impossible to establish exactly which substances were present in the codebreaker's body, she said.
Williams' boss at MI6, Britain's external intelligence agency, earlier apologised to the 31-year-old's family for failing to raise the alarm about his disappearance and conceded the error may have hampered police inquiries.
Speaking Thursday from behind a screen, the woman -- identified only as Witness F -- offered a full apology for MI6's slow response to Williams's disappearance in August 2010.
"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."
Williams' relatives left the hearing in tears after it was revealed MI6 had failed to realise he was missing.
When police finally entered Williams' flat in Pimlico, central London, they found his naked body padlocked in a red holdall placed in his bath.
Police have been unable to establish a cause of death, though they have unearthed no proof that anyone was with him when he died.
His family have said they believe secret agents versed in the "dark arts" tried to cover up his death.
But the five-day inquest, due to end on Friday, is looking into whether he could have entered the bag alone, after speculation he might have done so as part of a sex game.
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.
High-end women's clothing and shoes worth some £20,000 ($32,400, 24,500 euros) were found in the immaculate flat.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.
April 26, 2012
LONDON — Forensic scientists cannot establish if a British spy was poisoned before being padlocked in a bag because it took his employers MI6 a week to realise he was missing, an inquest has heard.
Forensic expert Denise Stanworth told the hearing in London that "we cannot rule out volatile agents" in the death of Gareth Williams two years ago as she was asked how reliable toxicology tests can be nine days after death.
The decomposition of the body made it impossible to establish exactly which substances were present in the codebreaker's body, she said.
Williams' boss at MI6, Britain's external intelligence agency, earlier apologised to the 31-year-old's family for failing to raise the alarm about his disappearance and conceded the error may have hampered police inquiries.
Speaking Thursday from behind a screen, the woman -- identified only as Witness F -- offered a full apology for MI6's slow response to Williams's disappearance in August 2010.
"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."
Williams' relatives left the hearing in tears after it was revealed MI6 had failed to realise he was missing.
When police finally entered Williams' flat in Pimlico, central London, they found his naked body padlocked in a red holdall placed in his bath.
Police have been unable to establish a cause of death, though they have unearthed no proof that anyone was with him when he died.
His family have said they believe secret agents versed in the "dark arts" tried to cover up his death.
But the five-day inquest, due to end on Friday, is looking into whether he could have entered the bag alone, after speculation he might have done so as part of a sex game.
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.
High-end women's clothing and shoes worth some £20,000 ($32,400, 24,500 euros) were found in the immaculate flat.
Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved.
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Reuters (India) : MI6 denies cover-up in British 'spy-in-bag' case
Thursday, April 26, 2012
MI6 denies cover-up in British 'spy-in-bag' case
LONDON | April 26, 2012
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service denied on Thursday that the mysterious death of one of its agents whose naked body was found in a padlocked bag had anything to do with his work or that it had covered the episode up.
The decomposing body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found in August 2010 inside a red sports bag in his bathtub at his central London flat, a week after he had failed to show up to work.
A lawyer for his family has said it was their belief that "a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services" was involved in removing evidence related to his death, stoking media speculation that he was murdered by foreign spies.
But in testimony given from behind a screen to protect her identity at his inquest, an MI6 employee known only as "F" said there was no evidence to suggest the agency was involved in a cover-up of Williams' death or that his death was work-related.
"There was no reason to think his death was in any way connected to his work," the witness said. Nor, she added, was there any evidence that Williams' identity as an MI6 officer had been discovered by any foreign agencies.
Williams, a mathematics prodigy on a three-year secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in western England, did technical work for MI6.
His role was to "think up and design technology that could be used by others" in his four-person team, said "F".
He had successfully completed a training course for conducting operations within Britain, but was still involved in relatively low-risk activities, she added.
AN APOLOGY
Williams' body was discovered inside his Pimlico flat on August 23 two years ago.
He had been scheduled to attend a work meeting on August 16 but did not show up, and there were several other meetings that week that he had been expected to attend but did not.
If normal agency procedures had been carried out, "F" said that action would have been taken within two to four hours after he had failed to show up for work.
"It took far too long," she said. "There are chains of steps one can take upon non-arrival within the second hour." She added: "We are very sorry for that."
Witness "F" said he understood that the delay in finding Williams' body had made it more difficult for his family to come to terms with his death.
As far as she knew, there had been no disciplinary action taken against anyone responsible for the delay in the discovery of the body, she said.
Williams' death has puzzled investigators, who have struggled to understand how he ended up in the bag, which also contained keys that would have unlocked its padlock. There were no signs of a struggle.
On Tuesday, Jackie Sebire, a detective on Williams' case, testified she believed someone had helped him get into the bag. Specks of unknown DNA were found on it.
Inside the flat, police also found women's clothing and make-up. Witness "F" said Williams' job did not require him to dress in women's clothing.
The inquest heard on Wednesday that several years earlier, he had been found tied to his bed at his lodgings unable to free himself. He told his landlady at the time he had wanted to see if he could free himself.
(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
LONDON | April 26, 2012
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service denied on Thursday that the mysterious death of one of its agents whose naked body was found in a padlocked bag had anything to do with his work or that it had covered the episode up.
The decomposing body of Gareth Williams, 31, was found in August 2010 inside a red sports bag in his bathtub at his central London flat, a week after he had failed to show up to work.
A lawyer for his family has said it was their belief that "a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services" was involved in removing evidence related to his death, stoking media speculation that he was murdered by foreign spies.
But in testimony given from behind a screen to protect her identity at his inquest, an MI6 employee known only as "F" said there was no evidence to suggest the agency was involved in a cover-up of Williams' death or that his death was work-related.
"There was no reason to think his death was in any way connected to his work," the witness said. Nor, she added, was there any evidence that Williams' identity as an MI6 officer had been discovered by any foreign agencies.
Williams, a mathematics prodigy on a three-year secondment from the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in western England, did technical work for MI6.
His role was to "think up and design technology that could be used by others" in his four-person team, said "F".
He had successfully completed a training course for conducting operations within Britain, but was still involved in relatively low-risk activities, she added.
AN APOLOGY
Williams' body was discovered inside his Pimlico flat on August 23 two years ago.
He had been scheduled to attend a work meeting on August 16 but did not show up, and there were several other meetings that week that he had been expected to attend but did not.
If normal agency procedures had been carried out, "F" said that action would have been taken within two to four hours after he had failed to show up for work.
"It took far too long," she said. "There are chains of steps one can take upon non-arrival within the second hour." She added: "We are very sorry for that."
Witness "F" said he understood that the delay in finding Williams' body had made it more difficult for his family to come to terms with his death.
As far as she knew, there had been no disciplinary action taken against anyone responsible for the delay in the discovery of the body, she said.
Williams' death has puzzled investigators, who have struggled to understand how he ended up in the bag, which also contained keys that would have unlocked its padlock. There were no signs of a struggle.
On Tuesday, Jackie Sebire, a detective on Williams' case, testified she believed someone had helped him get into the bag. Specks of unknown DNA were found on it.
Inside the flat, police also found women's clothing and make-up. Witness "F" said Williams' job did not require him to dress in women's clothing.
The inquest heard on Wednesday that several years earlier, he had been found tied to his bed at his lodgings unable to free himself. He told his landlady at the time he had wanted to see if he could free himself.
(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
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MSNBC : UK intelligence officer: No cover-up in 'spy in the bag' case
Thursday, April 26, 2012
UK intelligence officer: No cover-up in 'spy in the bag' case
By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com | April 26, 2012
LONDON - There was "no evidence" to suggest that British intelligence services were part of a cover-up after one of their own was found naked and decomposing inside a locked duffel bag in his London apartment, an intelligence officer said on Thursday.
"Witness F" gave evidence to the inquest -- which are held when deaths are deemed violent or unnatural -- in the August 2010 death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams from behind a screen, BBC News reported.
MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence agency, is roughly equivalent to the Untied States' CIA.
The denial came on the same day that one of the code-breaker's relatives shrieked and brought proceedings to a halt while listening to details of a series of missteps that allowed for the spy to lay in his bathroom undiscovered for a week, the Telegraph reported.
The relatives walked out of the inquest in tears during Witness F's evidence, the BBC reported.
Their lawyer Anthony O'Toole said the agency showed a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety."
Williams, 31, was a math prodigy working as a codebreaker at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service.
Williams' family became increasingly upset during the four days of proceedings as it became clear that his absence did not spark any concern, despite the sensitive nature of his job, according to reports.
Witness F, a senior intelligence officer, told the inquest that MI6 was "profoundly sorry" for the delays, which had made it more difficult for the family to "come to terms with his dreadful death," the newspaper reported.
A detective told the inquest on Tuesday that a "third party was involved in that padlock being locked, and Gareth being placed in the bag."
The inquest has also been told that Williams, who was single and intensely private, would not have let a stranger into his flat, and that he would not have given his keys to anyone apart from close family.
There were no signs of a break-in or indications of foul play.
Small amounts of unidentified DNA were detected on the bag.
On Wednesday, the inquest heard that years earlier Williams had been found tied to his bed and unable to free himself.
Williams had shouted out for help in the middle of the night when he was living in an annex of the home of his then-landlady Jennifer Elliot in Cheltenham, western England.
Elliot and her husband found Williams dressed only in boxer shorts with his hands tied to the headboard of the bed. He told her that he had been just "messing about," trying to see "if I could get myself free," the Telegraph newspaper reported.
In a written statement, Elliot said it was likely "to be sexual rather than escapology," the paper added.
Williams later took up a three-year assignment at the headquarters of Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, whose offices are on the banks of the River Thames in central London.
By F. Brinley Bruton, msnbc.com | April 26, 2012
LONDON - There was "no evidence" to suggest that British intelligence services were part of a cover-up after one of their own was found naked and decomposing inside a locked duffel bag in his London apartment, an intelligence officer said on Thursday.
"Witness F" gave evidence to the inquest -- which are held when deaths are deemed violent or unnatural -- in the August 2010 death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams from behind a screen, BBC News reported.
MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence agency, is roughly equivalent to the Untied States' CIA.
The denial came on the same day that one of the code-breaker's relatives shrieked and brought proceedings to a halt while listening to details of a series of missteps that allowed for the spy to lay in his bathroom undiscovered for a week, the Telegraph reported.
The relatives walked out of the inquest in tears during Witness F's evidence, the BBC reported.
Their lawyer Anthony O'Toole said the agency showed a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety."
Williams, 31, was a math prodigy working as a codebreaker at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service.
Williams' family became increasingly upset during the four days of proceedings as it became clear that his absence did not spark any concern, despite the sensitive nature of his job, according to reports.
Witness F, a senior intelligence officer, told the inquest that MI6 was "profoundly sorry" for the delays, which had made it more difficult for the family to "come to terms with his dreadful death," the newspaper reported.
A detective told the inquest on Tuesday that a "third party was involved in that padlock being locked, and Gareth being placed in the bag."
The inquest has also been told that Williams, who was single and intensely private, would not have let a stranger into his flat, and that he would not have given his keys to anyone apart from close family.
There were no signs of a break-in or indications of foul play.
Small amounts of unidentified DNA were detected on the bag.
On Wednesday, the inquest heard that years earlier Williams had been found tied to his bed and unable to free himself.
Williams had shouted out for help in the middle of the night when he was living in an annex of the home of his then-landlady Jennifer Elliot in Cheltenham, western England.
Elliot and her husband found Williams dressed only in boxer shorts with his hands tied to the headboard of the bed. He told her that he had been just "messing about," trying to see "if I could get myself free," the Telegraph newspaper reported.
In a written statement, Elliot said it was likely "to be sexual rather than escapology," the paper added.
Williams later took up a three-year assignment at the headquarters of Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, whose offices are on the banks of the River Thames in central London.
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ITN : Dead MI6 spy was vulnerable to blackmail, says his boss
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Dead MI6 spy was vulnerable to blackmail, says his boss
April 26, 2012
An MI6 officer has said dead spy Gareth Williams was vulnerable to blackmail, having carried out unauthorised searches on intelligence computers, an inquest heard.
Speaking behind a screen, the officer known as Witness F, said a malign or hostile party could have "theoretically put some pressure on to Gareth".
However, the agent said a review found no evidence that the Secret Service was involved in the death of the "maths genius" who was found dead in a bag in his bath.
Mr Williams' decomposing body was found curled up in a padlocked sports holdall in his west London flat on August 23 2010.
However, no alarm was raised until a week after he failed to turn up for work.
Witness F apologised for the delay in reporting him missing, causing some members of his family to walk out of the inquest at Westminster Coroners Court in tears.
How Mr Williams could have locked himself in the bag has sparked a wave of speculation and conspiracy theories, including that he was assassinated by foreign spies.
However, Witness F said the Secret Service had no reason to suspect any foreign intelligence service posed a threat to Mr Williams or had identified him as a target.
April 26, 2012
An MI6 officer has said dead spy Gareth Williams was vulnerable to blackmail, having carried out unauthorised searches on intelligence computers, an inquest heard.
Speaking behind a screen, the officer known as Witness F, said a malign or hostile party could have "theoretically put some pressure on to Gareth".
However, the agent said a review found no evidence that the Secret Service was involved in the death of the "maths genius" who was found dead in a bag in his bath.
Mr Williams' decomposing body was found curled up in a padlocked sports holdall in his west London flat on August 23 2010.
However, no alarm was raised until a week after he failed to turn up for work.
Witness F apologised for the delay in reporting him missing, causing some members of his family to walk out of the inquest at Westminster Coroners Court in tears.
How Mr Williams could have locked himself in the bag has sparked a wave of speculation and conspiracy theories, including that he was assassinated by foreign spies.
However, Witness F said the Secret Service had no reason to suspect any foreign intelligence service posed a threat to Mr Williams or had identified him as a target.
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BBC : MI6 spy death inquest: 'No drugs or poison found' in body
Thursday, April 26, 2012
MI6 spy death inquest: 'No drugs or poison found' in body
April 26, 2012
MI6 officer Gareth Williams was probably not drugged, drunk or poisoned when he died, a toxicologist has told the inquest into his death.
But Denise Stanworth said she could not rule this out because of the time which had elapsed between his death and the post-mortem examination.
Mr Williams' body was found locked in a holdall at his London flat on 23 August 2010 - a week after his death.
His boss at GCHQ in Cheltenham earlier hailed him as "something of a prodigy".
Giving evidence, forensic scientist Ms Stanworth said some anaesthetics, solvents and the substance amyl nitrate may not have been detectable, because his body was left for so long.
It took a week for MI6 to investigate Mr Williams' disappearance, meaning the post-mortem exam was carried out nine days after he died.
A small amount of alcohol, and traces of the sedative GHB were found, but both were likely to have been produced by his body as it decomposed after death.
An extensive search for "old-fashioned poison" came back negative, although Ms Stanworth said volatile agents could not be ruled out.
For understandable reasons spies do not like to come out from the shadows.
But over the past two days a procession of intelligence officers have had to account for their actions in public, albeit behind screens.
On Thursday, a senior official at MI6 acknowledged the one-week delay in finding Gareth Williams' body caused more grief for the family, and had an impact on the police investigation.
The body was too badly decomposed to provide forensic clues.
A GCHQ official has said action should have been taken on the first day of absence in line with policy.
It still is not clear why the policy was not followed.
It appears too that Gareth Williams' line manager at MI6 has not been disciplined for this.
Mr Williams' former boss at government listening agency GCHQ earlier described him as a "world-class" intelligence officer.
Stephen Gale said Mr Williams had joined GCHQ aged 21 with a first class degree in mathematics and PhD in computer sciences. "It was quite remarkable that he had achieved those levels of qualifications at such a young age," he said.
The agency paid for him to gain further qualifications in advanced mathematics at Cambridge University.
Mr Gale said: "Colleagues recall a young man who was very close to his father - he spoke about their climbing trips together.
"They remember him as a keen cyclist. One colleague said it was like a red bullet flying around the place."
Mr Williams was on a three-year secondment with MI6 in London but wanted to return to his role at GCHQ.
Profoundly sorry
On Thursday morning, an MI6 officer denied the secret service was involved in a cover-up over the codebreaker's death.
The officer - Witness F - gave evidence anonymously from behind a screen.
She apologised to Mr Williams' family on behalf of MI6, saying they were "profoundly sorry" for the delay in reporting the spy missing.
Witness F admitted that HR policy was not followed and that it "clearly took too long" to notice the codebreaker's absence from work.
She blamed Mr Williams' line manager - Witness G - for a "breakdown in communication", but said he should not face disciplinary action.
Mr Williams' relatives walked out of the inquest in tears during Witness F's evidence, and their lawyer Anthony O'Toole said the agency had shown a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety".
Mr O'Toole blamed the delay for preventing the family from saying 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.
Bondage websites
During her evidence, Witness F denied that officers from the secret service entered Mr Williams' flat, before or after the discovery of his body.
She said that MI6 had not tampered with any electronic evidence on Mr Williams' computer, and denied the secret service had leaked information to the media that the codebreaker visited bondage and sadomasochistic websites.
Mr O'Toole asked Witness F whether speculation about Mr Williams' private life might have made him unsuitable for intelligence agency work.
She indicated his sexual preferences would not, in themselves, pose a problem: "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."
An internal secret intelligence services' review in 2011 found no link between the codebreaker's death and his work.
April 26, 2012
MI6 officer Gareth Williams was probably not drugged, drunk or poisoned when he died, a toxicologist has told the inquest into his death.
But Denise Stanworth said she could not rule this out because of the time which had elapsed between his death and the post-mortem examination.
Mr Williams' body was found locked in a holdall at his London flat on 23 August 2010 - a week after his death.
His boss at GCHQ in Cheltenham earlier hailed him as "something of a prodigy".
Giving evidence, forensic scientist Ms Stanworth said some anaesthetics, solvents and the substance amyl nitrate may not have been detectable, because his body was left for so long.
It took a week for MI6 to investigate Mr Williams' disappearance, meaning the post-mortem exam was carried out nine days after he died.
A small amount of alcohol, and traces of the sedative GHB were found, but both were likely to have been produced by his body as it decomposed after death.
An extensive search for "old-fashioned poison" came back negative, although Ms Stanworth said volatile agents could not be ruled out.
For understandable reasons spies do not like to come out from the shadows.
But over the past two days a procession of intelligence officers have had to account for their actions in public, albeit behind screens.
On Thursday, a senior official at MI6 acknowledged the one-week delay in finding Gareth Williams' body caused more grief for the family, and had an impact on the police investigation.
The body was too badly decomposed to provide forensic clues.
A GCHQ official has said action should have been taken on the first day of absence in line with policy.
It still is not clear why the policy was not followed.
It appears too that Gareth Williams' line manager at MI6 has not been disciplined for this.
Mr Williams' former boss at government listening agency GCHQ earlier described him as a "world-class" intelligence officer.
Stephen Gale said Mr Williams had joined GCHQ aged 21 with a first class degree in mathematics and PhD in computer sciences. "It was quite remarkable that he had achieved those levels of qualifications at such a young age," he said.
The agency paid for him to gain further qualifications in advanced mathematics at Cambridge University.
Mr Gale said: "Colleagues recall a young man who was very close to his father - he spoke about their climbing trips together.
"They remember him as a keen cyclist. One colleague said it was like a red bullet flying around the place."
Mr Williams was on a three-year secondment with MI6 in London but wanted to return to his role at GCHQ.
Profoundly sorry
On Thursday morning, an MI6 officer denied the secret service was involved in a cover-up over the codebreaker's death.
The officer - Witness F - gave evidence anonymously from behind a screen.
She apologised to Mr Williams' family on behalf of MI6, saying they were "profoundly sorry" for the delay in reporting the spy missing.
Witness F admitted that HR policy was not followed and that it "clearly took too long" to notice the codebreaker's absence from work.
She blamed Mr Williams' line manager - Witness G - for a "breakdown in communication", but said he should not face disciplinary action.
Mr Williams' relatives walked out of the inquest in tears during Witness F's evidence, and their lawyer Anthony O'Toole said the agency had shown a "total disregard for Gareth's whereabouts and safety".
Mr O'Toole blamed the delay for preventing the family from saying 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.
Bondage websites
During her evidence, Witness F denied that officers from the secret service entered Mr Williams' flat, before or after the discovery of his body.
She said that MI6 had not tampered with any electronic evidence on Mr Williams' computer, and denied the secret service had leaked information to the media that the codebreaker visited bondage and sadomasochistic websites.
Mr O'Toole asked Witness F whether speculation about Mr Williams' private life might have made him unsuitable for intelligence agency work.
She indicated his sexual preferences would not, in themselves, pose a problem: "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."
An internal secret intelligence services' review in 2011 found no link between the codebreaker's death and his work.
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LBC : MI6 Spy Found Tied To Bed Years Before Death
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
MI6 Spy Found Tied To Bed Years Before Death
April 25, 2012
MI6 spy Gareth Williams tied himself to his bed "to see if he could get free" years before his body was found in a padlocked bag, his inquest heard.
Mr Williams was working for GCHQ in Cheltenham when his landlord and landlady in the town discovered him with his wrists attached to the head board.
They concluded the act was "more likely to be sexual than escapology," the hearing was told.
In a written statement read to Westminster Coroner's Court, his landlady Jennifer Elliot described the startling scene that confronted her and her husband in the middle of the night three years before their tenant's death.
Ms Elliot, who rented out an annex to her home to Mr Williams, said: "We were in bed and we heard Gareth shouting for help. It was about 1.30am and during winter.
"We both got up, got the spare key and opened the door to the annex. I called 'are you ok?' Gareth replied 'can you help me?'
"We went upstairs and found him lying in his bed with both hands tied with material attached at the headboard."
The spy was dressed in boxer shorts, with the bedclothes pulled over his legs, she said.
"He was very embarrassed," she said.
"He said 'I just wanted to see if I could get myself free'."
Ms Elliot could not describe what material he had used to tie up his wrists, adding that her husband thought he had formed two loops and put his hands through them.
The couple thought the material looked taut enough to cut into the spy's skin, the court heard.
Ms Elliot's statement continued: "My husband said 'what the bloody hell are you doing?' and he said 'I just wanted to see if I could get free'.
"He told my husband there was a knife on the side and my husband cut him free.
"We said 'Gareth, we can't have you doing this'. He agreed and said it wouldn't happen again."
Mr Williams then offered to pay more rent but Ms Elliot declined, the inquest heard.
There was no repeat of the strange incident, Ms Elliot said, and she and her husband never spoke of it to anyone but each other.
"We obviously discussed it and thought it more likely to be sexual than escapology," she added.
But apart from this, Mr Williams's flat was always immaculate and his landlady "never saw anything of a sexual or fetish nature" there, the inquest was told.
Mr Williams's body was found locked in a hold-all in his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010 but 20 months on his death still remains a mystery.
MI6 spies are expected to give evidence at the inquest of GCHQ codebreaker Mr Williams later.
The witnesses will appear anonymously behind a screen and will be referred to only as Witness K, Witness F, Witness G and SIS F.
Between them the witnesses will be asked to explain Mr Williams' role, both at his main job at GCHQ, and on his secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) at Vauxhall Cross in London.
April 25, 2012
MI6 spy Gareth Williams tied himself to his bed "to see if he could get free" years before his body was found in a padlocked bag, his inquest heard.
Mr Williams was working for GCHQ in Cheltenham when his landlord and landlady in the town discovered him with his wrists attached to the head board.
They concluded the act was "more likely to be sexual than escapology," the hearing was told.
In a written statement read to Westminster Coroner's Court, his landlady Jennifer Elliot described the startling scene that confronted her and her husband in the middle of the night three years before their tenant's death.
Ms Elliot, who rented out an annex to her home to Mr Williams, said: "We were in bed and we heard Gareth shouting for help. It was about 1.30am and during winter.
"We both got up, got the spare key and opened the door to the annex. I called 'are you ok?' Gareth replied 'can you help me?'
"We went upstairs and found him lying in his bed with both hands tied with material attached at the headboard."
The spy was dressed in boxer shorts, with the bedclothes pulled over his legs, she said.
"He was very embarrassed," she said.
"He said 'I just wanted to see if I could get myself free'."
Ms Elliot could not describe what material he had used to tie up his wrists, adding that her husband thought he had formed two loops and put his hands through them.
The couple thought the material looked taut enough to cut into the spy's skin, the court heard.
Ms Elliot's statement continued: "My husband said 'what the bloody hell are you doing?' and he said 'I just wanted to see if I could get free'.
"He told my husband there was a knife on the side and my husband cut him free.
"We said 'Gareth, we can't have you doing this'. He agreed and said it wouldn't happen again."
Mr Williams then offered to pay more rent but Ms Elliot declined, the inquest heard.
There was no repeat of the strange incident, Ms Elliot said, and she and her husband never spoke of it to anyone but each other.
"We obviously discussed it and thought it more likely to be sexual than escapology," she added.
But apart from this, Mr Williams's flat was always immaculate and his landlady "never saw anything of a sexual or fetish nature" there, the inquest was told.
Mr Williams's body was found locked in a hold-all in his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010 but 20 months on his death still remains a mystery.
MI6 spies are expected to give evidence at the inquest of GCHQ codebreaker Mr Williams later.
The witnesses will appear anonymously behind a screen and will be referred to only as Witness K, Witness F, Witness G and SIS F.
Between them the witnesses will be asked to explain Mr Williams' role, both at his main job at GCHQ, and on his secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) at Vauxhall Cross in London.
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Sky : MI6 Spy Found Tied To Bed Years Before Death
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
MI6 Spy Found Tied To Bed Years Before Death
April 25, 2012
MI6 spy Gareth Williams tied himself to his bed "to see if he could get free" years before his body was found in a padlocked bag, his inquest heard.
Mr Williams was working for GCHQ in Cheltenham when his landlord and landlady in the town discovered him with his wrists attached to the head board.
They concluded the act was "more likely to be sexual than escapology," the hearing was told.
In a written statement read to Westminster Coroner's Court, his landlady Jennifer Elliot described the startling scene that confronted her and her husband in the middle of the night three years before their tenant's death.
Ms Elliot, who rented out an annex to her home to Mr Williams, said: "We were in bed and we heard Gareth shouting for help. It was about 1.30am and during winter.
"We both got up, got the spare key and opened the door to the annex. I called 'are you ok?' Gareth replied 'can you help me?'
"We went upstairs and found him lying in his bed with both hands tied with material attached at the headboard."
The spy was dressed in boxer shorts, with the bedclothes pulled over his legs, she said.
"He was very embarrassed," she said.
"He said 'I just wanted to see if I could get myself free'."
Ms Elliot could not describe what material he had used to tie up his wrists, adding that her husband thought he had formed two loops and put his hands through them.
The couple thought the material looked taut enough to cut into the spy's skin, the court heard.
Ms Elliot's statement continued: "My husband said 'what the bloody hell are you doing?' and he said 'I just wanted to see if I could get free'.
"He told my husband there was a knife on the side and my husband cut him free.
"We said 'Gareth, we can't have you doing this'. He agreed and said it wouldn't happen again."
Mr Williams then offered to pay more rent but Ms Elliot declined, the inquest heard.
There was no repeat of the strange incident, Ms Elliot said, and she and her husband never spoke of it to anyone but each other.
"We obviously discussed it and thought it more likely to be sexual than escapology," she added.
But apart from this, Mr Williams's flat was always immaculate and his landlady "never saw anything of a sexual or fetish nature" there, the inquest was told.
Mr Williams's body was found locked in a hold-all in his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010 but 20 months on his death still remains a mystery.
MI6 spies are expected to give evidence at the inquest of GCHQ codebreaker Mr Williams later.
The witnesses will appear anonymously behind a screen and will be referred to only as Witness K, Witness F, Witness G and SIS F.
Between them the witnesses will be asked to explain Mr Williams' role, both at his main job at GCHQ, and on his secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) at Vauxhall Cross in London.
(c) Sky News 2012
April 25, 2012
MI6 spy Gareth Williams tied himself to his bed "to see if he could get free" years before his body was found in a padlocked bag, his inquest heard.
Mr Williams was working for GCHQ in Cheltenham when his landlord and landlady in the town discovered him with his wrists attached to the head board.
They concluded the act was "more likely to be sexual than escapology," the hearing was told.
In a written statement read to Westminster Coroner's Court, his landlady Jennifer Elliot described the startling scene that confronted her and her husband in the middle of the night three years before their tenant's death.
Ms Elliot, who rented out an annex to her home to Mr Williams, said: "We were in bed and we heard Gareth shouting for help. It was about 1.30am and during winter.
"We both got up, got the spare key and opened the door to the annex. I called 'are you ok?' Gareth replied 'can you help me?'
"We went upstairs and found him lying in his bed with both hands tied with material attached at the headboard."
The spy was dressed in boxer shorts, with the bedclothes pulled over his legs, she said.
"He was very embarrassed," she said.
"He said 'I just wanted to see if I could get myself free'."
Ms Elliot could not describe what material he had used to tie up his wrists, adding that her husband thought he had formed two loops and put his hands through them.
The couple thought the material looked taut enough to cut into the spy's skin, the court heard.
Ms Elliot's statement continued: "My husband said 'what the bloody hell are you doing?' and he said 'I just wanted to see if I could get free'.
"He told my husband there was a knife on the side and my husband cut him free.
"We said 'Gareth, we can't have you doing this'. He agreed and said it wouldn't happen again."
Mr Williams then offered to pay more rent but Ms Elliot declined, the inquest heard.
There was no repeat of the strange incident, Ms Elliot said, and she and her husband never spoke of it to anyone but each other.
"We obviously discussed it and thought it more likely to be sexual than escapology," she added.
But apart from this, Mr Williams's flat was always immaculate and his landlady "never saw anything of a sexual or fetish nature" there, the inquest was told.
Mr Williams's body was found locked in a hold-all in his flat in Pimlico, London, in August 2010 but 20 months on his death still remains a mystery.
MI6 spies are expected to give evidence at the inquest of GCHQ codebreaker Mr Williams later.
The witnesses will appear anonymously behind a screen and will be referred to only as Witness K, Witness F, Witness G and SIS F.
Between them the witnesses will be asked to explain Mr Williams' role, both at his main job at GCHQ, and on his secondment to the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) at Vauxhall Cross in London.
(c) Sky News 2012
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This Is London : Secret agents will give evidence behind screen at inquest of spy-in-the-bag Gareth Williams
Monday, April 23, 2012
Secret agents will give evidence behind screen at inquest of spy-in-the-bag Gareth Williams
‘No evidence will be taken in closed hearing... all will be presented before this court’ - Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox
Paul Cheston | April 23, 2012
Four secret service witnesses will give evidence anonymously from behind a screen at the inquest into the death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams, the coroner said today.
Mr Williams, 31, was found padlocked inside a sports bag in the bath at his home in Pimlico in August 2010.
His parents have suggested that the “dark arts” of intelligence agencies could have been involved in the death and a possible cover up.
The inquest into his death, described by coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox as “highly controversial”, opened today. She emphasised that all evidence to the inquest in Westminster will be heard in open court.
But she granted public interest immunity certificates to confer anonymity on three MI6 witnesses known as K, F and G, and on a “corporate witness” known as SIS F.
The first three will give evidence from behind a screen protecting their identity from the court, including from Mr Williams’s family. The corporate witness, however, will be visible to the family.
A further witness, Stephen Gale of GCHQ, will give evidence without a screen or anonymity.
Dr Wilcox said she was taking these steps because of the risk “to national security and therefore the public interest”.
Mr Williams’s parents Ian and Ellen and his sister, Ceri Subbe, were at the hearing today. The inquest, which is expected to last five days, is not being heard by a jury and the coroner alone will record a verdict.
Mr Williams, a maths prodigy worked as a cipher and codes expert for the government listening station GCHQ and had been on secondment with MI6. His naked and decomposing body was found inside a large holdall sealed by a padlock in the bath at his top-floor flat. A series of post-mortem tests failed to discover exactly how he died.
Dr Wilcox told the inquest: “Unlike other courts no one is on trial, least of all the deceased. This inquest, like all others, is an inquiry to answer four important but limited factual questions: who was the person who died, and how, when and where did the death come about? “The question ‘How’ will lead to an examination of a direct sequence of events that led to the cause of death.
“I intend to conduct this inquest as a full, fair and fearless inquiry into the evidence of this highly controversial death. No evidence will be taken in closed hearing and all evidence I deem relevant and all the material I have seen will be presented before this court.”
Family lawyer Anthony O’Toole told an earlier hearing at Westminster coroner’s court that “the impression of the family” was that “an unknown third party [in the flat at the time] was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, or evidence has been removed post-mortem by experts in those dark arts”.
The hearing continues.
Six key questions
Was there someone else in the room with Gareth Williams?
Police say it would have been impossible to get into the locked bag alone. Mr Williams’s body had no signs of defence injuries from a struggle.
Why did it take so long to raise the alarm?
Mr Williams was last seen on August 15, 2010 and police believe he died in the early hours of the following day. But he was not reported missing by anyone until his sister rang police seven days later.
Were the black arts of the spooks involved?
Mr Williams’s family suspect members of an intelligence service were involved in what they see as a possible murder and cover-up.
Was Mr Williams being followed?
His friend Elizabeth Guthrie is said to have told police he had told her he feared he was under surveillance. But he did not reveal by whom.
Was Mr Williams’s work behind his death?
He had just returned from holiday in the United States but neither MI6 nor GCHQ have wanted to make public what the codebreaker was involved in at the time of his death.
Did a sex game go wrong?
Mr Williams had visited a number of bondage websites. There was no trace of alcohol or recreational drugs in his body. But if he was interested in auto-eroticism why was it not picked up when he was vetted?
‘No evidence will be taken in closed hearing... all will be presented before this court’ - Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox
Paul Cheston | April 23, 2012
Four secret service witnesses will give evidence anonymously from behind a screen at the inquest into the death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams, the coroner said today.
Mr Williams, 31, was found padlocked inside a sports bag in the bath at his home in Pimlico in August 2010.
His parents have suggested that the “dark arts” of intelligence agencies could have been involved in the death and a possible cover up.
The inquest into his death, described by coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox as “highly controversial”, opened today. She emphasised that all evidence to the inquest in Westminster will be heard in open court.
But she granted public interest immunity certificates to confer anonymity on three MI6 witnesses known as K, F and G, and on a “corporate witness” known as SIS F.
The first three will give evidence from behind a screen protecting their identity from the court, including from Mr Williams’s family. The corporate witness, however, will be visible to the family.
A further witness, Stephen Gale of GCHQ, will give evidence without a screen or anonymity.
Dr Wilcox said she was taking these steps because of the risk “to national security and therefore the public interest”.
Mr Williams’s parents Ian and Ellen and his sister, Ceri Subbe, were at the hearing today. The inquest, which is expected to last five days, is not being heard by a jury and the coroner alone will record a verdict.
Mr Williams, a maths prodigy worked as a cipher and codes expert for the government listening station GCHQ and had been on secondment with MI6. His naked and decomposing body was found inside a large holdall sealed by a padlock in the bath at his top-floor flat. A series of post-mortem tests failed to discover exactly how he died.
Dr Wilcox told the inquest: “Unlike other courts no one is on trial, least of all the deceased. This inquest, like all others, is an inquiry to answer four important but limited factual questions: who was the person who died, and how, when and where did the death come about? “The question ‘How’ will lead to an examination of a direct sequence of events that led to the cause of death.
“I intend to conduct this inquest as a full, fair and fearless inquiry into the evidence of this highly controversial death. No evidence will be taken in closed hearing and all evidence I deem relevant and all the material I have seen will be presented before this court.”
Family lawyer Anthony O’Toole told an earlier hearing at Westminster coroner’s court that “the impression of the family” was that “an unknown third party [in the flat at the time] was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, or evidence has been removed post-mortem by experts in those dark arts”.
The hearing continues.
Six key questions
Was there someone else in the room with Gareth Williams?
Police say it would have been impossible to get into the locked bag alone. Mr Williams’s body had no signs of defence injuries from a struggle.
Why did it take so long to raise the alarm?
Mr Williams was last seen on August 15, 2010 and police believe he died in the early hours of the following day. But he was not reported missing by anyone until his sister rang police seven days later.
Were the black arts of the spooks involved?
Mr Williams’s family suspect members of an intelligence service were involved in what they see as a possible murder and cover-up.
Was Mr Williams being followed?
His friend Elizabeth Guthrie is said to have told police he had told her he feared he was under surveillance. But he did not reveal by whom.
Was Mr Williams’s work behind his death?
He had just returned from holiday in the United States but neither MI6 nor GCHQ have wanted to make public what the codebreaker was involved in at the time of his death.
Did a sex game go wrong?
Mr Williams had visited a number of bondage websites. There was no trace of alcohol or recreational drugs in his body. But if he was interested in auto-eroticism why was it not picked up when he was vetted?
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Telegraph : MI6 spy inquest will hear anonymous evidence from security agents
Monday, April 23, 2012
MI6 spy inquest will hear anonymous evidence from security agents
Security agents giving evidence at the inquest of MI6 spy Gareth Williams, who was found dead inside a padlocked bag, can do so anonymously and from behind screens, the Coroner ruled today.
By Martin Evans and Tom Whitehead, Crime Correspondent and Security Editor | April 23, 2012
At the opening of the hearing into what she described as Mr Williams’ “highly controversial death”, Dr Fiona Wilcox said there would be no secrecy at the inquest.
But she said there would be a “real risk of harm to national security” if witnesses from the security services were required to give evidence without the protection of anonymity.
Four witnesses, identified only as K, F, G and SIS F will all give evidence from behind a screen.
Mr Williams’ sister Ceri Subbe will also give evidence at the inquest about her brother’s upbringing, character and background.
His parents Ian and Ellen were present at the hearing, which is taking place at Westminster Coroner’s Court in central London.
The inquest will attempt to establish the cause and circumstances of Mr Williams’ mysterious death in August 2010.
His naked and decomposing remains were discovered in a holdall which had been locked from the outside and placed in the bath at his Pimlico flat.
Almost 40 witnesses will give evidence during the hearing, which is expected to last five days.
Mr Williams was a mathematics prodigy who graduated from Bangor University at the age of 17 before going on to complete a PhD and post-graduate studies at Manchester and Cambridge Universities.
A keen cyclist, he joined GCHQ – the government’s listening station - in 2001, where he was employed as a cipher and code breaker. In 2009 he was seconded to MI6, the secret intelligence service, where he qualified for “operational deployment” in the field.
Shortly before his death he returned from a fly drive holiday on the west coast of the United States and the last confirmed sighting of his was on August 15 2010 when a CCTV camera captured him shopping at the Harrods department store.
However despite failing to turn up for work, it was not until more than a week later on August 23 when he was reported missing by the human resources department at GCHQ.
Officers from Scotland Yard attended his top floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, where they discovered his badly decomposed body in the holdall.
Mr Williams’ family believe he may have been murdered because of his work for the security services.
At a pre-inquest review, held last month, Mr O’Toole said: “The impression of the family is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, or evidence has been removed post-mortem by experts in those dark arts.”
Security agents giving evidence at the inquest of MI6 spy Gareth Williams, who was found dead inside a padlocked bag, can do so anonymously and from behind screens, the Coroner ruled today.
By Martin Evans and Tom Whitehead, Crime Correspondent and Security Editor | April 23, 2012
At the opening of the hearing into what she described as Mr Williams’ “highly controversial death”, Dr Fiona Wilcox said there would be no secrecy at the inquest.
But she said there would be a “real risk of harm to national security” if witnesses from the security services were required to give evidence without the protection of anonymity.
Four witnesses, identified only as K, F, G and SIS F will all give evidence from behind a screen.
Mr Williams’ sister Ceri Subbe will also give evidence at the inquest about her brother’s upbringing, character and background.
His parents Ian and Ellen were present at the hearing, which is taking place at Westminster Coroner’s Court in central London.
The inquest will attempt to establish the cause and circumstances of Mr Williams’ mysterious death in August 2010.
His naked and decomposing remains were discovered in a holdall which had been locked from the outside and placed in the bath at his Pimlico flat.
Almost 40 witnesses will give evidence during the hearing, which is expected to last five days.
Mr Williams was a mathematics prodigy who graduated from Bangor University at the age of 17 before going on to complete a PhD and post-graduate studies at Manchester and Cambridge Universities.
A keen cyclist, he joined GCHQ – the government’s listening station - in 2001, where he was employed as a cipher and code breaker. In 2009 he was seconded to MI6, the secret intelligence service, where he qualified for “operational deployment” in the field.
Shortly before his death he returned from a fly drive holiday on the west coast of the United States and the last confirmed sighting of his was on August 15 2010 when a CCTV camera captured him shopping at the Harrods department store.
However despite failing to turn up for work, it was not until more than a week later on August 23 when he was reported missing by the human resources department at GCHQ.
Officers from Scotland Yard attended his top floor flat in Alderney Street, Pimlico, where they discovered his badly decomposed body in the holdall.
Mr Williams’ family believe he may have been murdered because of his work for the security services.
At a pre-inquest review, held last month, Mr O’Toole said: “The impression of the family is that the unknown third party was a member of some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services, or evidence has been removed post-mortem by experts in those dark arts.”
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Telegraph : MI6 spy Gareth Williams death: agent could 'not have locked himself in bag'
Friday, March 30, 2012
MI6 spy Gareth Williams death: agent could 'not have locked himself in bag'
An MI6 spy, Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a holdall, could not have locked himself in the sports bag, a coroner was told.
By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | March 30, 2012
The naked and decomposing body of the 31-year-old GCHQ codebreaker was found in a bag in the bath of his Pimlico flat on August 23, 2010.
Nearly 18 months on, police have been unable to establish what led to his death despite toxicology tests and an exhaustive investigation into his background that has been hampered by errors.
On Friday, at a pre-inquest review, Westminster Coroner’s Court was told that his family believe Mr Williams was murdered by a member of "some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services".
Concerns were also raised about how Mr Williams' MI6 employers failed to raise the alarm when he failed to arrive for work.
The court heard the delays in finding his body resulted in the post mortem being "ineffective".
But in another key blunder, DNA found on the spy's hand, thought to be crucial to the case, turned out to be from a forensic scientist who took evidence at the scene.
Human error in the way DNA results were then fed into a computer led to false leads being pursued needlessly until this year.
Forensic lab LGC is to blame for the blunder, the hearing heard. The coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, said it throws into doubt the reliability of their work on this case, as well as others.
She expressed frustration over delays, describing them as "an ongoing problem", as she called for inquiries into the DNA "error".
Dr Wilcox told the hearing that whether Mr Williams was alive inside the bag and locked it himself "was at the very heart of this inquiry".
Anthony O'Toole, representing the family, told the inquest that there was a "high probability" that a third party was in the flat.
"The unknown third party was a member of some agency that specialised 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," he said.
He said the family had no view on whether it was a foreign agency or a British agency that was behind either the murder or the cover-up. The family still do not know what Mr Williams did for a living.
Mr O’Toole said that the family had hoped that forensic evidence might help to convict the killer if the police found a suspect.
But following the discovery that DNA found on his hand belonged to a police worker, there was now no forensic evidence which could identify the killer.
He said that Mr Williams had attended two “operational development courses” in the months before his death.
“With effect from March 18, 2010, he could be operationally deployed,” he said.
“In our submission, to properly explore the circumstances of the death, we do need to know something of the deceased’s work.
“SIS (MI6) say the risk to the deceased was assessed to be low, but we don’t know why … we got a bland statement from SIS that the death is nothing to do with his work.”
The coroner assured Mr O’Toole: “I absolutely intend to follow the evidence in this case."
The hearing was told that experts who worked on the case agreed that the code breaker could not have locked the bag himself from the inside.
They could be asked to re-enact how he could have got into the bag by giving a live demonstration in court.
Dr Wilcox told the court there was a lack of pathological evidence to prove Mr Williams made a "frantic attempt" to get out of the bag.
Meanwhile, a "Mediterranean couple" who were reportedly seen visiting the flat have been ruled a red herring by police.
Agents from both MI6 and GCHQ, where Mr Williams had been seconded from, are due to be called to give evidence when the inquest opens next month.
Applications were being made by GCHQ lawyers for agents to be allowed to give evidence anonymously and behind a screen.
Further "corporate statements" from both organisations are set to be tendered, which lawyers for MI6 told the court would "paint a picture and set the scene".
Evidence will also be given about the contents of Mr Williams' locker at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Glos, which the hearing was told several people had access to.
The inquest is unlikely to be shown video of material found on Mr Williams' iPhone that was recovered from his work locker.
The inquest is due to start on April 23 and last five days, with 30 witnesses set to be called to give evidence.
Witnesses will include Mr Williams' sister and the police officers who opened the front door and discovered the padlocked bag containing the body.
Organisers of the ladies fashion course Mr Williams is said to have secretly enrolled on will give statements to the inquest.
Three colleagues, known as witnesses K, F and G, will be called to give evidence and will take questions from his family, the court heard.
An officer from Scotland Yard’s counter terrorism command will also attend the inquest to explain its official role following a request from the spy’s family.
Witness K, a colleague at GCHQ, will also give evidence about Mr Williams' "state of mind" on his last trip taken before his death.
Witness F was considering taking over the MI6-owned flat when the spy returned to Gloucestershire.
Meanwhile Witness G, Mr Williams’ line manager, will be asked to explain why the alarm was not raised sooner when Mr Williams failed to arrive for work.
The alarm was raised by a GCHQ HR manager when she rang the Metropolitan Police, who went to his house for a routine "welfare check".
Dr Wilcox told the hearing that he wanted the inquest to go ahead for the sake of Mr Williams’ family.
An MI6 spy, Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a holdall, could not have locked himself in the sports bag, a coroner was told.
By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter | March 30, 2012
The naked and decomposing body of the 31-year-old GCHQ codebreaker was found in a bag in the bath of his Pimlico flat on August 23, 2010.
Nearly 18 months on, police have been unable to establish what led to his death despite toxicology tests and an exhaustive investigation into his background that has been hampered by errors.
On Friday, at a pre-inquest review, Westminster Coroner’s Court was told that his family believe Mr Williams was murdered by a member of "some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services".
Concerns were also raised about how Mr Williams' MI6 employers failed to raise the alarm when he failed to arrive for work.
The court heard the delays in finding his body resulted in the post mortem being "ineffective".
But in another key blunder, DNA found on the spy's hand, thought to be crucial to the case, turned out to be from a forensic scientist who took evidence at the scene.
Human error in the way DNA results were then fed into a computer led to false leads being pursued needlessly until this year.
Forensic lab LGC is to blame for the blunder, the hearing heard. The coroner, Dr Fiona Wilcox, said it throws into doubt the reliability of their work on this case, as well as others.
She expressed frustration over delays, describing them as "an ongoing problem", as she called for inquiries into the DNA "error".
Dr Wilcox told the hearing that whether Mr Williams was alive inside the bag and locked it himself "was at the very heart of this inquiry".
Anthony O'Toole, representing the family, told the inquest that there was a "high probability" that a third party was in the flat.
"The unknown third party was a member of some agency that specialised 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," he said.
He said the family had no view on whether it was a foreign agency or a British agency that was behind either the murder or the cover-up. The family still do not know what Mr Williams did for a living.
Mr O’Toole said that the family had hoped that forensic evidence might help to convict the killer if the police found a suspect.
But following the discovery that DNA found on his hand belonged to a police worker, there was now no forensic evidence which could identify the killer.
He said that Mr Williams had attended two “operational development courses” in the months before his death.
“With effect from March 18, 2010, he could be operationally deployed,” he said.
“In our submission, to properly explore the circumstances of the death, we do need to know something of the deceased’s work.
“SIS (MI6) say the risk to the deceased was assessed to be low, but we don’t know why … we got a bland statement from SIS that the death is nothing to do with his work.”
The coroner assured Mr O’Toole: “I absolutely intend to follow the evidence in this case."
The hearing was told that experts who worked on the case agreed that the code breaker could not have locked the bag himself from the inside.
They could be asked to re-enact how he could have got into the bag by giving a live demonstration in court.
Dr Wilcox told the court there was a lack of pathological evidence to prove Mr Williams made a "frantic attempt" to get out of the bag.
Meanwhile, a "Mediterranean couple" who were reportedly seen visiting the flat have been ruled a red herring by police.
Agents from both MI6 and GCHQ, where Mr Williams had been seconded from, are due to be called to give evidence when the inquest opens next month.
Applications were being made by GCHQ lawyers for agents to be allowed to give evidence anonymously and behind a screen.
Further "corporate statements" from both organisations are set to be tendered, which lawyers for MI6 told the court would "paint a picture and set the scene".
Evidence will also be given about the contents of Mr Williams' locker at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Glos, which the hearing was told several people had access to.
The inquest is unlikely to be shown video of material found on Mr Williams' iPhone that was recovered from his work locker.
The inquest is due to start on April 23 and last five days, with 30 witnesses set to be called to give evidence.
Witnesses will include Mr Williams' sister and the police officers who opened the front door and discovered the padlocked bag containing the body.
Organisers of the ladies fashion course Mr Williams is said to have secretly enrolled on will give statements to the inquest.
Three colleagues, known as witnesses K, F and G, will be called to give evidence and will take questions from his family, the court heard.
An officer from Scotland Yard’s counter terrorism command will also attend the inquest to explain its official role following a request from the spy’s family.
Witness K, a colleague at GCHQ, will also give evidence about Mr Williams' "state of mind" on his last trip taken before his death.
Witness F was considering taking over the MI6-owned flat when the spy returned to Gloucestershire.
Meanwhile Witness G, Mr Williams’ line manager, will be asked to explain why the alarm was not raised sooner when Mr Williams failed to arrive for work.
The alarm was raised by a GCHQ HR manager when she rang the Metropolitan Police, who went to his house for a routine "welfare check".
Dr Wilcox told the hearing that he wanted the inquest to go ahead for the sake of Mr Williams’ family.
Filed under
Anthony O'Toole,
couple,
dark arts,
DNA,
Fiona Wilcox,
LGC,
Mediterranean,
Witness F,
Witness G,
Witness K
by Winter Patriot
on Friday, March 30, 2012 |
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