MI5: Simply The Best!

The Guardian.

Sake.

I blame London Spy and Gareth Williams.

PS These things could be determined by how much money you give to Stonewall, hard to say...

Edit: Williams was MI6, soz.

London Spy: Stuff Happens

Twenty years ago, I stood on the dangerous and decrepit former incarnation of the Hungerford pedestrian bridge that connects the north and south banks of the River Thames. The old bridge was afflicted with crime and it wasn’t a place to linger. But that night, I looked out over the city skyline and asked – as though London were a wise mentor capable of answering back – whether life got any easier.

I don’t recall another occasion when I’ve seriously contemplated suicide. But standing there, I realised that death would be the end of everything good, as well as everything bad. My life, which had been a largely happy one, full of love and potential, would have been rewritten in those troubled hours, as one of perpetual despair leading to that act. I would have wound up as a statistic, engulfed by a much wider narrative about a society in which many young gay people, such as me, struggle to cope...

Herein lies the premise for my first television drama series London Spy, a thriller which opens with my character, Danny (played by the Bafta-winning actor Ben Whishaw) standing on Lambeth Bridge, feeling low and asking the London skyline whether life gets any easier.

London answers him with a chance encounter, an early morning runner who stops to ask if he’s OK. Introducing himself as Alex, an unusual connection forms between these men who are opposites in many ways. It’s unusual in the sense that it’s special to both parties, but it’s also unusual for mainstream drama on the BBC, which rarely places gay relationships at the heart of stories.

Alex claims to be working in the financial services: he’s successful and wealthy. He’s also anti-social and profoundly shy, doesn’t do drugs or hang out in clubs. A love story begins that promises happiness for both. However, [SPOILER ALERT!!!] eight months into their relationship Alex is found dead in a sex room designed for multiple anonymous encounters, littered with drugs and extreme bondage gear... 

Tim Rob Smith, the writer of London Spy, which starts on BBC2 this evening, writing for the Telegraph.

Apparently, it's 'quite good'.

After Alex vanishes, the main relationship we follow is between Danny and Scottie, Jim Broadbent’s character. An elderly, wise but wounded figure, Scottie used to work in the secret services, and acts as a kind of mentor to Danny. For writer Smith, Scottie represents someone he never had growing up: “I really envied people who had that figure,” he says. “So this is my version.”

There are also hints of unrequited love between the pair, an original set-up for the typically macho world of the spy thriller. But although these gay relationships are at the heart of it, Broadbent stresses “it’s not a gay story” as he stares me down with his quizzical blue eyes. “It’s not about that. It’s about these particular guys, who happen to be gay, who are in the midst of this maelstrom of an unfolding tale.” ...

Jim Broadbent, quoted in The Guardian.

Note Broadbent appears to be talking about the relationship between his character and Whishaw's - not our two star-crossed young gay lovers, as The Guardian headline implies.

Whatever, 'happens to be gay', is such a braindead and banal cliche - and the three main characters sexuality hardly seems incidental to this story - so can we just not?

Ben Whishaw: The Spy Who Loved D

London Spy is the story of a chance romance between two people from very different worlds, one from the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service, the other from a world of clubbing and youthful excess.

Whishaw plays Danny – gregarious, hedonistic, romantic and adrift, who falls for the anti-social enigmatic and brilliant Alex (played by [Edward] Holcroft). Just as the two of them realise that they're perfect for each other, Alex is found dead. Danny, utterly ill-equipped to take on the complex and codified world of British espionage, must decide whether he's prepared to fight for the truth...

BBC blurb.

The first screenplay by acclaimed thriller writer Tom Rob Smith, London Spy stars Whishaw as Danny, an openly gay drifter who falls in love with the enigmatic Alex, a closeted investment banker (or so he claims). It would be wrong of me to give too much away, suffice to say that the story would seem to be inspired in part by the real-life case of Gareth Williams, the M16 agent whose corpse was found locked in a holdall in 2010.

For Whishaw, who has played so many vacillating characters over the years – from Shakespeare’s ultimate ditherer, Hamlet, to the bisexual John in Mike Bartlett’s Royal Court play Cock – Danny’s unambiguous sexuality makes a welcome change. “That’s one thing he’s very clear about and very strongly embodies and no problem,” says Whishaw, who himself came out as a gay man in 2013, after the Daily Mail started digging around in his private life...

While Whishaw delved into the history of M16 for his role in Spectre, he says he deliberately avoided research for London Spy. “Because Danny is not from the world that he finds himself thrust into, it was very important to that he doesn’t know he’s in a spy drama,” he says of a character that reminds him of many people he knows. “He has never found a path really, I suppose… lots of potential that’s never been realised or properly tapped into. Yeah, he’s lost in a way that’s so easy to happen in London.”

Independent, October 23rd.

PS It looks like the Freddie Mercury biopic, somewhat inexplicably set to star gentle Ben, is 'trapped in development hell'.

Gareth Williams: Questions To Which The Answer Is No

More utter nonsense in the Daily Mail.

PS 'The first screenplay by acclaimed thriller writer Tom Rob Smith, London Spy stars [Ben] Whishaw as Danny, an openly gay drifter who falls in love with the enigmatic Alex, a closeted investment banker (or so he claims). It would be wrong of me to give too much away, suffice to say that the story would seem to be inspired in part by the real-life case of Gareth Williams, the M16 agent whose corpse was found locked in a holdall in 2010...' The Independent.

Gareth Williams: No New Death Evidence Shock

THE MI6 spy whose body was found in a bag worked undercover as a woman, an expert claims.

It would explain why Gareth Williams, 31, had £20,000 worth of ladies’ designer clothes and shoes and a red wig at his home.

The theory also answers why his neighbours saw only a woman coming and going to his flat.

Forensic investigator Peter Faulding, who has probed the mystery death, said: “The key question never asked was, ‘Were these clothes used for his job?’. I am certain they were.”

Peter claims the expensive items were bought by Williams’ bosses.

He added: “I’m certain he made a very convincing female. He was slim, with feminine features. And as a cyclist he shaved his legs.”

It has been suspected the clothes were part of a secret lifestyle.

The Sun On Sunday.

Maybe he did - though there's CCTV footge of him entering his flat rather obviously not in drag (and I can't recall this 'neighbours saw only a woman...' claim before) - but what on earth would this tell us about how he died?

Gareth Williams: Murdered By Clinton!!?

The Sun On Sunday.

He printed off a guestlist for a Bill Clinton reception that a friend was going to!

After five years, is that the best you can do?

Update: Obediently regurgitated in The Indendent.

Check out the NUTS! comments from tinfoil-hat wearing readers.

'You forgot to include the fact that the '' safe house'' refered to is DOLPHIN SQUARE the same establishment owned flats reportedly used by VIP child abusers to do their evil deeds. The same spy was also reported to have hacked the now prime ministers wifes email when she worked at the Bristol School of Creative Arts. It's all oviously unrelated conjecture............right.'

Gareth Williams: Startling New Lack Of Evidence!

The Sun.

How many times?

It's only the 'perfect murder' in that there is not a shred of evidence that Williams was murdered.

Nor any motive any rational non-tinfoil-hat-wearing person would believe.

There's absolutely no evidence Lord Lucan was abducted by aliens either, does that mean it's the 'perfect alien abduction'?

He most likely just fancied getting off by getting in a sports bag but couldn't get out again.

End of.

Gareth Williams: MI6 Gay Spy In A Bag

Police set to rule out foul play in 'spy in a bag' mystery

Scotland Yard expected to conclude MI6 spy Gareth Williams likely to have climbed in to holdall himself..

Daily Telegraph.

I think we knew that...

If you want to see made-up nonsense in the media this really was textbook stuff.
There was no evidence ever he didn't just climb in a bag to have a champion wank.

But I read it in the paper!!!
Basically almost everything you read is a fucking lie.

PS Fagburn's sympathy goes out to Gareth's family, but it's a bit sad they can't accept he was a gay, cross-dressing masturbator.
Yours towards a less shame-filled world...

"For people who feel a need to believe in conspiracies, here's one sitting there waiting for them. Just imagine the CIA deciding; how can we undermine and destroy all of these popular movements? Let's send them off on some crazy wild goose chase which is going to involve them in extremely detailed microanalysis and discussion of things that don't matter. That'll shut them up. That's happening... In case anybody misunderstands, I don't believe this for one moment, but it's the kind of thing that goes around."

Noam Chomsky.

Update: Monday 18 November's Daily Express has an EXCLUSIVE! MI6 spy Gareth Williams found dead in a bag was murdered.
This being the Express they obviously have no new evidence for this, but just repeat all the old nuttiness.
Maybe they'll keep going on about this one for eternity like the unstrange death of Princess Diana?

Gareth Williams: Case Closed

To the Telegraph - always the go-to paper for delightfully detailed and lurid reporting of coroners' reports, autopsies, murders and the like.
Today we learn; "MI6 codebreaker Gareth Williams probably locked himself into the sports bag where his naked body was found and was not the victim of a hit by the security services, Scotland Yard has found after conducting a review of the case."
HUH!!?
Mind = blown!
So who's been advancing loads of loopy conspiracy theories and zombie rumours (the ones that refuse to die) ever since poor Gareth was found dead in August 2010?
Only every single sodding newspaper in the UK.
And which maverick lone wolf has consistently - nay manfully - said these all sounded like a load of balls and doggedly pursued the truth, like some modern day Woodward and Bernstein.
Only Fagburn!
It seemed pretty clear that Gareth Williams was, ahem, "enjoying himself in an unusual way" and that no-one else was involved.
Let's call it Onan's Law - a single man living alone will find ever more inventive ways of getting his rocks off.
I know I keep saying this, but it would save so much time if everyone just listened to me in the first place.
Good day.

Update: Then rather bafflingly the Sunday Telegraph came up with some more zombie rumours linking Gareth to some Kazakh oligarch. Oh crap. Where will it end?

Gareth Williams: Credible Evidence

BBC Radio 4's The Report returned to the Gareth Williams' story this evening.
The main assertion was that it would have been far easier than has been assumed for Williams to lock himself in the holdall, so it could well have been a solo sex act gone wrong.
This may seem like a minor point, but it's not. 
Earlier this month the coroner submitted an open "narrative verdict" suggesting a third party was "probably" involved and that Williams was "unlawfully killed", as evidence had been submitted that it was a near impossibility he could have locked himself inside.
Even though the keys were found inside the bag beneath his body!
During a reconstruction a yoga specialist "tried more than 100 times without success" - the Report journalist mastered it in five. 
Dr Richard Shepherd, who conducted one of the post-mortem examinations, told The Report;
"Now that we have credible evidence that it is possible to lock the bag from the inside, whilst it doesn't rule out homicide, clearly the chances of this as a solitary sexual act have to be considered in any future investigation by the Metropolitan Police."
Once again it looks to any rational observer that Gareth Williams' death was far more mundane and prosaic than the endless baseless media conjecture has suggested, and than the conspiracy theorists so dearly want to believe.
This case should not rest on the coroner and Williams' family's prudery and prejudices, and how they find other people's sex lives incomprehensible or unseemly.

Gareth Williams: Take Off Your Tinfoil Hat

"For people who feel a need to believe in conspiracies, here's one sitting there waiting for them. Just imagine the CIA deciding, How can we undermine and destroy all of these popular movements? Let's send them off on some crazy wild goose chase which is going to involve them in extremely detailed microanalysis and discussion of things that don't matter. That'll shut them up. That's happening... In case anybody misunderstands, I don't believe this for one moment, but it's the kind of thing that goes around."

Noam Chomsky.

Of course, the open verdict in Gareth Williams' inquest is an invitation to stupidity and wild speculation. 
Otherwise intelligent people lose all power of reason.
How depressing.
Williams was involved in quite mundane deskwork - certainly not any James Bond subterfuge and derring-do
The secret services would have wanted to make sure no sensitive and/or confidential information was exposed, this would be standard procedure, and is not indicative of any sinister intent.
There was no evidence of foul play in Gareth Williams' death.
It's beyond daft to then argue; "Well, someone must have destroyed the evidence, then."
It's far more likely that there was no evidence, because there was no evidence.
Just as the reason there is no evidence that monkeys built the moon out of cheese in 1949 is not because someone has destroyed the evidence, but because there is no evidence for it.
Just as it's far more likely Gareth Williams had an unconventional sex life, rather than him being taken out in a hit by Blofeld and his hired goons at SMERSH via the notorious "Put a body in a sports holdall" assassination technique.
I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but real life and the real world tend to be rather boring and mundane.

Was Gareth Williams Murdered: Probably (Not)

Quite surreally candid headline in the Independent.
The "open verdict" seems like an invitation to print even more speculative nonsense.
Ho hum...

Update: Good piece on Guardian online Friday, 'Gareth Williams and the Prurience of the Press', Juliet Jacques.

Update2: Some absolute nonsense in Saturday's Mirror; 'MI6 dirty secrets.. why do sex games appear to feature in so many spy deaths? Disposing of an enemy and making it look like a perverted fantasy gone wrong is in the training manuals of every spy agency from MI6 to Mossad.' Eh?

Gareth Williams Inquest: A Narrative Verdict

The coroner, Fiona Wilcox, has returned a "narrative verdict" - this is legalese for saying she can't be sure how Gareth Williams died, and that there is not enough evidence to definitively conclude that he was "unlawfully killed".*  

However she said: “I am satisfied so that I am sure that a third party placed the bag (which contained Gareth) in to the bath and on the balance of probabilities locked the bag.
“The cause of death was unnatural and likely to have been criminally mediated.
“I am therefore satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Gareth was killed unlawfully.”
Quoted in the Telegraph online.

Though it is certainly possible that Gareth Williams was murdered, I fail to see how she can think it is "probable" from what she said during her summing-up.

She said: "Most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered."' BBC News.

In fine:

1. The most likely cause of death was poison or asphyxiation.
2. No traces of drugs or poison were found. But some drugs eg GHB/GBL metabolise into the body ["Alcohol and GHB were found in his blood, but were probably produced naturally" Times]. Poisons such as chloroform and cyanide would not be evident due to the state of decomposition.
3. There did not appear to be any serious injuries - and no signs of struggle. But it's difficult to be clear about minor injuries because the body was so badly decomposed.
4. The coroner believes it is "unlikely" he got into the bag by himself [This seems pure conjecture - but then so is almost all of this].
5. It would have been extremely difficult, but not impossible, to lock the holdall from inside.
6. The keys to the padlock were found inside the bag, beneath his right buttock. It would not have been difficult to get out by breaking the zip. There was no sign of a violent struggle to get out.
7. "The balance of probability" is that Gareth Williams was alive when he got in the bag. A pathologist said said it would be "extremely difficult" to place a floppy dead body in a foetal position as neat as that in which the corpse was found.
8. If so he would have died quite quickly of C02 poisoning whatever, probably within minutes.
9. Gareth Williams visited bondage websites sporadically [four times in two years] and is known to have experimented with self-bondage once. There is no evidence he had researched "claustrophilia" [arousal by enclosure].
10. There is no indication of suicidal intent [After searching the flat police "discovered a newspaper cutting that listed the main regrets of the dying" on a coffee table. Earlier report].

11. There were no DNA, footprints, fingerprints, or any other evidence suggesting the presence of a third-party. Though this may also suggest the flat had been professionally cleansed. ["Police found no unidentified fingerprints anywhere else in the death flat. All belonged to Mr Williams or his close family." Mail] ["There was no evidence that the flat had been 'wiped' of prints. Yet circumstances suggest that someone else, who knew their business enough not to leave clues, had been at work there. Probably wearing gloves." ibid. Eh?]

a. The DNA traces of at least two people were found but were so weak they may never be of any use and could be “years” old. Telegraph.
b. Results are expected within weeks as to whether a DNA sample has been recovered from a towel found in the kitchen. ibid.
c. A "DNA mix-up" occurred when the DNA of someone examining the case was mistaken for that of a third-party.
 d. "If a naked Mr Williams had climbed into the holdall while it was in the bath, he would have left hand and footprints. That there were none found suggests that he was already in the bag before it was placed in the bath." Mail.
12. There was no evidence of semen in the bag ["Traces of his semen were found on the floor of the bathroom in which his body was discovered and on his dressing gown" Mail].
13. There was no sign of forced entry to the flat ["but someone could have put their hand through the letter box and lifted the latch if the door was not double locked"]
14. His line manager did not report Williams was missing to the police for a week, and some evidence was handed over to the police late
15. It only emerged yesterday that M16 did not hand over to police nine computer memory sticks [and a holdall] found at his workplace that they had examined. It is not known what was on the sticks, or even if they were his. A mobile phone had been restored to factory setting the night before he died.
16. There were unverifiable reports of him visiting gay bars. But police have found no sexual partners and/or lovers [of either sex]. [Although he sets my gaydar ringing, if he was it is remarkable no trace has been found of him acting on this]
17. There was a collection of womens' clothes, shoes, make-up and a wig in the flat, estimated to be worth £20,000. These may have fitted him, they may have been gifts [I have no idea what bearing this would have on his death, either way though].
18. It was unusual for the heating in the flat to be on in August - this would have sped up decomposition. 
19. According to The Guardian; "During her verdict, Wilcox rejected 'suicidal intent', interest in bondage or cross-dressing, or "auto-erotic activity" being related to Williams's death." [Elsewhere in The Guardian online "appeared to reject..."]
[I find ruling out auto-erotic activity absolutely baffling - as I've said several times before let's take Occam's Razor to this case].
20. An officer from the Met said they believed a third-party was "definitely" involved ["either at the time of death or to cover up" Times], but there is no evidence Williams had arranged to meet someone.
21. MI6, SIS and Scotland Yard say there is no evidence his death was linked to his work [Cue cries of "But they would say that, wouldn't they?"]. ["Detective Superintendent Michael Broster said the possibility that an MI6 officer may have been involved in the death of Gareth Williams could not be ruled out..." The Times]. From what little we know of his job, it seems to have been quite mundane deskwork - not anything that would have put him in any spooks' firing line...

The police investigation is continuing. 

* "A narrative verdict has been an option for coroners in England and Wales since 2004 and is where the circumstances of a death are recorded without attributing the cause to a named individual"

PS This is all taken from the initial online reports, obviously. Hoping to read a transcript soon. Will update accordingly.

Gareth Williams Inquest: Titter Ye Not!

'The MI6 spy whose body was found in a padlocked holdall in his bath was once discovered tied to his bed in just his boxer shorts by his former landlady, the inquest into his death heard today.
'Describing Gareth Williams as “embarrassed, panicky, and apologetic” when found, Jennifer Elliot’s statement to the inquest detailed how she and her husband heard cries for help from their lodger in the early hours of the morning.
“Approximately three years ago, in bed, we heard Gareth shouting for help,” she said.
“It was about 1.30am, in the winter. We both got up and got the spare key. I called up, ‘are you ok?’, and we went up to find him lying on his bed with both arms and hands tied with a material that was attached to each bobble at the end of the headboard.
“We were both in shock. He was very embarrassed, panicky, and apologetic. He said, ‘I just wanted to see if I could get myself free’.”
'The spy was dressed in boxer shorts, with the bedclothes pulled over his legs, she said.
"He was not aroused and I could not see any sperm near him," Ms Elliot continued.
'She added that the unknown material had cut into Williams’ wrists.
Ms Elliott went on to explain that they believed that the event was probably of a sexual nature rather “than escapology”...
“He apologised and said it would not happen again, and Gareth never caused any situation like it again..."

The Daily Mirror goes into the most detail about what was heard at the Gareth Williams inquest yesterday.
The Sun were kind enough to publish a photo of the actual bed.
I do feel guilty, but it's hard to not find something cruelly amusing in this scenario. 
It appeals to a very English sense of humour - most papers seemed to be sniggering about it today - it sounds like a scene from a Whitehall farce.
It's even funnier if you read out Mrs Elliot's words in the voice of the landlady from Monty Python, I find.
Sorry Gareth.

Update: BBC TV News item Friday 27th, includes man demonstrating getting into a sports holdall. 

Gareth Williams: Still No News

MI6 Spy Gareth Williams Complained Of Friction At Work, Inquest Told

Sister says Williams disliked office culture and had been due to return to GCHQ one week after his body was found in holdall

'Gareth Williams, the intelligence worker found dead in a padlocked holdall at his London flat, had requested a transfer from MI6 and had been due to move one week after his body was found, an inquest heard...
'Describing her brother as someone who was happiest "in the mountains" and engaged in outdoor pursuits, Subbe said: "He disliked office culture, post-work drinks, flash car competitions and the rat race. He even spoke of friction in the office."'
 

The Guardian.

Well you don't often hear of people who work in offices complaining about their job, do you?

In fact, I think this may be a first.

I imagine, like so many of us members of the disgruntled community, he thought; "Well, I'll zip myself up in a sports bag and have a stranglewank, that'll learn them."

As before Fagburn has two words to say on this... Occam's Razor.

Gareth Williams: Daily Mirror Exclusive!

Yes, that's a picture of his bath.
I kinda already had a pretty good idea what a bath looks like, but thanks anyway.

Gareth Williams: Without A Clue

Gareth Williams' pre-inquest hearing was finally held today - his body was found in a hold-all in August 2010.
Lawyer Anthony O'Toole told the coroner court; "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 the dark arts."
But the court also heard no DNA or fingerprints were found at the flat, there was no sign of forced entry, and no poison was in his body.
Using Occam's Razor doesn't it sound like there was nobody else involved in Gareth William's death?
If someone wanted to murder him why do it by putting him in a bag - and why naked?
I suppose it's possible he could have been bumped up off by spooks from SMERSH - though we don't know what work he was doing for MI6.
Who knows, maybe Prince Phillip was behind it?
It does seem most likely - seeing as the police literally don't appear to have a clue about any other possible reason - that Williams died during a sex game gone wrong, and his family can't contemplate this?*

* His family have been quoted in the Standard as saying that rumours he was gay were a "Smear campaign... 'Maybe it's the Government or somebody trying to discredit him.'

PS Just read the Mail's hilarious account; "New evidence emerges sparking fresh questions from the victim's family..."
"At a public hearing yesterday, it emerged that the flat may have been swept clean of evidence, with no fingerprints or DNA anywhere."
So the "new evidence" is there there was no evidence?
Genius!

Update: Another "Eureka!" piece in The Mail On Sunday; 'The woman with THREE identities who could hold key to death of the body-in-the-bag spy'
This is a former flatmate of Williams according to the ever-present "source"...

Gareth Williams: A Worrying Theory

The Daily Mirror has another go at cracking the Gareth Williams' case - well it's been a month since The Sunday Times ran the last one.
'In a throwback to the dark days of the Cold War, a worrying theory has emerged about the death of body-in-the-bag spy Gareth Williams'
After a heck of a lot of the usual blather - Was he gay? A transvestite? Was it a bizarre sex game gone wrong? - we hear from one Crispin Black, "an intelligence analyst and former adviser to the Government [who] says the most likely explanation is that Williams was murdered."
Really?!! Do go on...
“The thing has a professional air – it’s neat, it’s tidy, it’s organised,” he said.
“A bath is where you put things if you don’t want any forensic residue to be left behind – because you know where the body’s been and you can clear up after it.”
The breathless Mirror hack informs us; "The fact the body was found locked in a holdall, with the key inside, provides the strongest indication he was executed by a foreign death squad.
"Investigators believe the team were so expert at their deadly trade, they left no obvious signs of the cause of death."
A-ha!
Wait there's more.
An anonymous "security source" is quoted as saying;
“This has all the hallmarks of a state-sponsored assassination. If you’ve got a problem with your codes being broken, the only solution is to remove the codebreaker.
"They’re incredibly hard to replace because they are recruited for having the sharpest mathematical brains.
"There’s always suspicion about the Russians because in many ways the Cold War never completely ended.”
And this has all the hallmarks of pure speculation. 
Next!

Gareth Williams Murder: Case Closed!

The Sunday Times has bigged up 'The Murder Story MI6 Doesn't Want You To Read'
Screaming on the front cover; 'Who Killed Gareth Williams?'
You remember Gareth Williams? The spy guy found zipped up in a hold-all.
"The man who knew too much" who has been endlessly written about by newspapers that know fuck all.
So who killed Gareth Williams?
One might have expected this question to be answered - is it buggery?
Titled - bafflingly - 'Death On The Doorstep' (he was found in the bath) we are told; "The bizarre death of MI6 agent Gareth Williams has been shrouded in silence. On the eve of an inquest, details of a possible cover-up have emerged."
Erm, no they haven't.
The article by Miles Goslett is an exercise is speculative space-filling lunacy, a few thousand words of tedious twaddle, telling us nothing new, and almost hilarious in its inanity.
Were there "dark forces" after Gareth Williams?
Well, there was a break-in at a flat downstairs.

"Clearly, the flats at Alderney Street had come to the attention of somebody. The motive may have simply been random burglary, but it is at least conceivable that some foreign power with an interest in Williams’ professional life might be involved."

No, wait - there is more sinister skullduggery afoot!

"From the point of view of the intelligence services, failing to prevent an assassination of an operative in the very shadow of the MI6 headquarters at Vauxhall would appear hopelessly inept — especially if a previous break-in had flagged up the building as a possible target."

Eh?
Seeking the truth, our intrepid journalist heads to Holyhead in Wales, where Gareth grew up.
So how does he try to get to the bottom of this?
He talks to an old man in a pub who met Williams a couple of times;

'Over a drink in his local pub, The Angel, the 63-year-old, who runs a building firm with his brother, said many in the area believe false trails have been laid because of the work Williams did.'
“I first knew Gareth in 1993, when he joined the club, aged about 14. He wasn’t an easy person to get to know. He was a fine cyclist, but he was at arm’s length socially from the club. I heard members of his family say he was very hard to fathom, very deep. But if you’d said to me when he was alive that he was gay, I wouldn’t have believed you. I don’t think he was that sort of person.
“When you think of the circumstances in which Gareth was found, this doesn’t seem to be a death which just occurred on the spur of the moment. It seems too well planned. No evidence of cause of death has been identified. It all looks too clean to be anything other than a professional job and I believe, like many people here, that there is a conspiracy of silence.”

Fuck - this is gold dust, Miles!
But what about "the gay theory"?

'One story claimed he was “known to meet men in the capital’s gay mecca of Vauxhall Cross”. It isn’t clear where this information came from.'

Or why he called it "Vauxhall Cross".
But then Gareth Williams had visited "a bar in East London, alone, to watch a drag act called Jimmy Woo".
Or maybe he went to Vauxhall to see Jonny Woo?
Or maybe the journalist doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about?
But nevermind all that, cause...

'The “gay theory” seems highly suspect.'

For why?
Because someone who works at BarCode didn't recognise Williams' photo.
Obviously not a gayer then - Case fucking closed!
This award-winningly awful piece ends with a line from one Professor Anthony Glees, the director of security and intelligence studies at the University of Buckingham, no less.
“The only thing that’s clear about the death of Gareth Williams is that he was murdered."
But even that's not clear.
I despair.

Gareth Williams Murder: Follow The Money

Can it really be six whole months since the Mail has run a story about Gareth Williams?
You remember - the "murdered MI6 spy"/"body in the bag" guy.
I used to enjoy the regualar updates on "the spy who knew too much" from the newspaper that knew fuck-all.
Poor Mr Williams is back in The Mail On Sunday today.
Trust me - you really only need to read the headline;
'Did Russian mafia kill the body-in-a-bag spy? MI6 man found dead in holdall in London, was developing secret technology to track gangsters' laundered cash'
And guess where this is from?
That's right! "A source".
"Neither GCHQ nor the Metropolitan police would discuss the new information."
That's probably cause they know a newspaper quoting an anonymous source is about as reliable as quoting a bottle of tomato sauce.
The MoS tell us that;
"His family reject claims that their fitness-fanatic son was gay and have been angered at the way the police allowed his private life to dominate their inquiry.
"The inquest into Mr Williams’ death – which sparked several outlandish conspiracy theories – will resume in September..."
Oh you mean like the "several outlandish conspiracy theories" IN THE DAILY MAIL AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY???
Like this one today?