The sister of a British MI6 agent whose lifeless body was found padlocked inside a sports bag spoke on Monday of how he had complained of office tensions and of London’s “rat race” shortly before he met his macabre death.
The naked, decomposing corpse of Gareth Williams, 31, was found inside a red bag in a bath at his apartment, near the headquarters of Britain’s external intelligence service, MI6, in central London on Aug. 25, 2010.
Women’s dresses and shoes worth about ￡20,000 (US$32,301) were also found at the apartment, creating another mystery in an already complex case. They had never been worn.
“He disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race,” Williams’ sister, Ceri Subbe, told an inquest.
“He even spoke of friction in the office,” she added, clearly distraught.
A lawyer for the dead man’s family said last month that “a member of some agency specializing in the dark arts of the secret services” might be responsible for his murder, fueling speculation that he was killed by foreign spies and that MI6 might have covered it up.
At the time of his death, Williams was on a three-year secondment to MI6, which deals with foreign espionage matters and is headquartered at a large, modern, imposing building on the banks of the River Thames.
However, Subbe said her brother had wanted to return to his old post as a code breaker at the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the state eavesdropping service which is based in a striking doughnut-shaped modernist building in Cheltenham, England.
He had wanted to escape London for the countryside and return to a quieter pace of life, she said.
She told the inquest that in April 2010 Williams had sought to end his secondment to MI6. He had been due to return to Cheltenham just days after his body was found.
Bizarrely, there were no signs his apartment had been broken into or indications of foul play, even though detectives do not believe he could have got into the bag by himself.
Toxicology tests found no traces of alcohol, drugs or poison in his body.
A keen cyclist and hill-runner, who gained a university first-class degree in mathematics at the age of just 17, Williams was single and intensely private.
Subbe, who was in regular contact with her brother, told the coroner that despite his worries about work he had been “very upbeat” and had not given any indication that he had been threatened or followed before his death.
She said he would not have let anyone into his apartment who had not been vetted, nor give his keys to anyone apart from close family.
His body was not discovered until his family reported him missing, up to 12 days after he was last seen, raising questions about his employer’s apparent lack of concern.
The inquest is due to hear from 37 witnesses, including four unnamed members of the intelligence services.
Three will give evidence from behind screens to protect their identity from the inquest, which in keeping with the nature of the mysterious case, is accessed from a small entrance guarded by security men, next to a sign saying the building is a health clinic.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across
RSS