MI6 'body-in-a-bag': No new DNA in Gareth Williams review, says Met

A forensic review into the death of MI6 agent Gareth Williams in 2010 has found no new DNA evidence to suggest someone else was in his flat when he died.

Mr Williams, 31, from Anglesey, was found dead by police officers inside a zipped holdall at his London flat.

A 2012 inquest found it was "unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated", but detectives ended the investigation a year later.

The Met began a review in January 2021, but said it had found no new evidence.

Det Ch Insp Neil John, the senior investigating officer, said: "Since 2010 the Met has carried out extensive enquiries into Gareth's death.

"An independent forensic review began in January 2021 and we received the findings in November 2023.

"No new DNA evidence was found and no further lines of enquiry were identified.

"We have informed Gareth's family of the outcome and our thoughts remain with them."

The Met added that any further information or evidence will be reviewed by detectives.

In 2013, Mr Williams' family said they stood by the conclusion of the coroner Fiona Wilcox and that her verdict "accurately reflected the circumstances".

After his death, there was widespread speculation in the media that it could, in some way, be linked to the secret intelligence work that he was engaged in as a GCHQ officer.

Following the gifted mathematician's death, scientists had previously been unable to obtain full DNA profiles from some of the samples identified in the flat in Pimlico.

The decision to launch a forensic review followed a report in 2021 by the Sunday Times, which suggested it was possible that advances in DNA science would allow the further study of a single hair that was found at the scene.

For more on the story, listen to the Death of a Codebreaker podcast on BBC Sounds.