Gareth Williams: Scotland Yard to rule out foul play

When all plausible possibilities have been exhausted, only the impossible remains.  And so it seems with the mystery surrounding the “spy in the bag” case – the death of the MI6 man Gareth Williams.

Three and a half years after his naked rotting body was discovered in a padlocked holdall in the bath, in his double locked central London flat,  Scotland Yard is set to rule out foul play.

Contrary to a coroner’s findings, detectives are now convinced it was the last act of the GCHQ codebreaker himself, whose passion for escapology led to this tragic end.

Last year the coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox declared that the 31 year old was probably “unlawfully killed” on the basis that it was “extremely unlikely” he had locked himself inside the sports bag – 400 attempts by experts failed to recreate the scenario of a self-inflicted death.

Mr Williams’ family certainly believed the intelligence services were behind it in some way and in particular “some agent specialising in the dark arts..”

Traces of DNA of two people were found on the bag. No foot, hand or fingerprints were found in the bathroom. But an intensive police investigation has found little more to suggest his death was down to the work of others.

On Wednesday, the Yard will announce it is to submit its report to the coroner and request a re-examination of the evidence.

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