MI6 spy Gareth Williams tied himself to bed, says landlady

Gareth Williams was working for GCHQ when his landlady discovered him with his wrists attached to the head board (PA)

Gareth Williams cried out for help from his landlady in the middle of the night while working at GCHQ at Cheltenham.

Rushing to his room, Jennifer Elliot and her husband beheld a “shocking” scene. Their “quiet and unassuming” tenant was lying on his back with both hands tied to the knobs of his bed posts, wearing boxer shorts and nothing else.

The intelligence officer, regarded as a mathematics prodigy, did not overtly “appear aroused”. Although he was tied with some material that was so tight it was cutting in to his wrists he insisted he was “just messing about”.

Mr Williams was extremely contrite, recalled Mrs Elliot. He was "very embarrassed, panicky and apologetic". She continued “My husband said ‘What the bloody hell are you doing?’ Gareth said just said he wanted to try and get himself free."

Cutting him free Mr Elliot admonished: “Gareth we cannot have you doing this.” Mr Williams promised it would not happen again and hurriedly volunteered to pay more rent, an offer the couple refused. Mrs Williams stated: “My husband and I discussed it and said it was more likely to be sexual than escapology or similar but cannot be sure. But there was nothing a sexual or fetishtistique nature in the flat. I did not think of Gareth as sexual.”

Searches of Mr Williams’ home computers seized after his death revealed that he had been visited "websites of claustrophillia, and he also had access to bondage and sado masochism websites”, the inquest was told