DNA on towel may point to spy's killer

DNA test results on a towel found in the flat of the spy Gareth Williams are not expected for weeks as Scotland Yard continues to follow-up new lines of inquiry into his death.

Police suspect a member of MI6 or GCHQ was in his flat the day he died and will reportedly take DNA samples from up to 50 of his colleagues to try to discover if anyone else was involved.

The coroner this week said that she was sure another person locked Mr Williams, 31, inside the red holdall in which his naked body was found in the bath. Mr Williams, who was security-conscious, was unlikely to let a stranger into his home, the inquest was told.

Experts from LGC, the private laboratory that secured a breakthrough in the case of Stephen Lawrence, are continuing to test a green towel found in the kitchen in the hope that it will yield evidence of another person in his flat. Detective Chief Inspector Jackie Sebire, who is leading the investigation, said the inquest had raised "several new lines of inquiry and the investigation will now refocus and actively pursue all the evidence heard".