Session 9. Friday Morning, April 27, 2012

SESSION 9. Friday Morning, April 27, 2012
9:34	@rachyoungersky	Morning. Covering inquest into death of MI6 officer Gareth Williams. Expecting demo of whether possible he locked himself inside bag
9:34	@rachyoungersky	Coroner calls William MacKay who says nature of his work to investigate unusual occurrences in confined spaces
WITNESS: William MacKay
9:34	@rachyoungersky	MacKay says v flexible young man who carried out reconstruction managed to get in to bag without help or instruction at first attempt
9:34	@rachyoungersky	inquest shown film of how man did so - mackay explains how poss to lock bag first then manually make space to allow person to enter
9:34	@rachyoungersky	MacKay then explains how found it to be impossible when attempted to lock bag after getting in
9:34	@rachyoungersky	MacKay says unless individual manages to get into locked bag at very first attempt, pen used to manipulate zip would damage it
9:35	@skynewsgatherer	First witness is William MacKay, who was asked by police to try and reconstruct getting into a bag
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	Mr MacKay, who has military background, also asked to investigate how well someone could breathe in closed bag
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	Inquest now watching DVD of someone in a bag like the one Gareth Williams was found in
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	It shows fingers pulling zip closed from the inside
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	Next clip shows the bag locked from the outside before anyone gets in and then the zip forced open with a pen
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	The man then gets in and tries to close the zip behind him
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	The 3rd experiment was to try and lock the zip whilst inside the bag - it couldn't be done
9:36	@skynewsgatherer	Experts says that if someone had got in after forcing the zip open - the zip was damaged when it was closed
9:39	@skynewsgatherer	Expert says he tried experiments on the bag more than a 100 times
9:43	@rachyoungersky	MacKay says only way to train for this would be with assistant or taking knife into bag with you. Coroner points out £700 bag to cut
9:44	@skynewsgatherer	Expert essentially saying that to lock the bag from the inside the person would have needed 3 hands
9:46	@skynewsgatherer	Experts found that due to lack of oxygen after a few mins they had to rest, the lock then dropped and they had to start it all again
9:47	@rachyoungersky	MacKay showing court picture of lock and zip to show how 3 Actions needed: hold zip together, hold lock, lock bar but only 2 hands
9:50	@skynewsgatherer	One cord attached to the zipper was also in usual position - which the expert says would have made locking the bag even harder
9:50	@rachyoungersky	MacKay says when they tried both he+assistant lost dexterity in fingers, had to rest momentarily, meant starting locking process anew
9:53	@rachyoungersky	MacKay says Williams prowess as rock climber would mean tremendous power developed in his fingers which would have aided his ability
9:56	@skynewsgatherer	Inquest hears at times experts got reasonably close to locking bag - but thinks without a lot of training it couldn't be done
9:57	@skynewsgatherer	'There are people around that can do amazing things,' expert tells inquest
9:58	@rachyoungersky	MacKay refuses to rule out possibility that Williams could have locked himself in to bag as found at scene using this scenario
10:00	@skynewsgatherer	Expert has refused to rule out the possibility that Gareth Williams locked himself in the bag
10:05	@skynewsgatherer	Expert says that if someone wanted to get out of the locked bag, 'with adrenaline running', they would find a way
10:06	@skynewsgatherer	'There would be an option of saving yourself,' says expert
10:06	@rachyoungersky	MacKay showing video illustrating how possible once locked in to open zip small amount to greatly increase flow of oxygen
10:08	@rachyoungersky	MacKay: We found it difficult to pull much further than this - I would offer if adrenalin kicked in you would find way to do it
10:11	@skynewsgatherer	Expert says someone of Gareth Williams size would have had no problem getting into the bag
10:12	@rachyoungersky	MacKay shows still of best position to be in bag to get out, points out on side ideal. "This was not the position he was found in"
10:16	@skynewsgatherer	Expert says he has lost sleep trying to work out why the zip cord was in unusual position
10:22	@rachyoungersky	inquest shown still of experts elbow area with red patches - if enough attempts made "should be red area on skin"
10:27	@skynewsgatherer	Expert tested whether he could breathe in the bag by getting in it in a swimming pool
10:32	@skynewsgatherer	Mr MacKay now answering questions from family lawyer. Expert confirms he never managed to lock himself in bag unaided
10:34	@rachyoungersky	under questioning from family lawyer MacKay clarifies neither he nor assistant ever managed to lock themselves in to bag
10:38	@skynewsgatherer	Mr MacKay saying that if someone wanted to survive they could have opened bag from the inside
10:47	@rachyoungersky	MacKay says if you were an escapologist you would pull it (the bag) open, grab the key and everyone would be amazed
10:55	@tomskynews	The footage of the tests to see if it was possible for a person to lock themselves into a holdall coming up shortly on @skynews
10:57	@tomskynews	Conclusion of first "bag expert" is that is was very very difficult for someone to lock themselves into holdall but couldn't rule it out
11:08	@skynewsgatherer	Second bag expert now giving evidence. It's Peter Faulding, who is similar size to Gareth Williams
11:09	@rachyoungersky	next bag expert Peter Faulding (apt name!) now describing how he climbed into a similar bag
WITNESS: Peter Faulding
11:10	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding, placed a bag similar to the one found a flat, in a bath and tried to get in it
11:11	@skynewsgatherer	DVD shows Mr Faulding lying on his back, on the bag, and trying to manoeuvre himself in
11:12	@skynewsgatherer	DVD shows Mr Faulding struggling to get in, he touches bath, tiles and rests feet on the taps in process
11:13	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding says he wants to make it clear that it would dangerous to attempt to 'try this at home'
11:15	@rachyoungersky	Peter Faulding, expert whose name you couldnt make up, shows DVD contorting himself into bag. Tells press to warn public not to try it
11:17	@rachyoungersky	you can see footage inquest has been watching on sky news now as coroner has released it to media
11:18	@skynewsgatherer	Expert says that being in a bath made the bag harder to get into. Once in, temperature rose fast
11:21	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding says he can't say it's impossible to lock the bag from the inside but 'even Houdini would struggle with this one'
11:23	@skynewsgatherer	When pushed Mr Faulding says it would have been impossible for Gareth to get into the bag, in the bath, unaided without leaving any marks
11:26	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding says that one person could have easily lifted the bag with Gareth's body into the bath without leaving marks
11:27	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding says that it would have been very, very easy to put Gareth into the bag if he was unconscious or dead
11:29	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding says that if the key had just dropped from the padlock it would be unlikely to have ended up where it did
11:32	@skynewsgatherer	Experiment on oxygen levels in the bag showed that amount of oxygen decreased rapidly after 5 mins
11:33	@skynewsgatherer	Oxygen level dropped to just 17%
11:34	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding thinks that Gareth could have survived a maximum of 30 mins in the bag
11:35	@skynewsgatherer	Mr Faulding says it would be impossible to get into bag in scenario Gareth found in
11:36	@skynewsgatherer	Expert: 'Why would you climb into bag in the bath?.... I believe he was placed in the bag by a 3rd party'
11:38	@skynewsgatherer	Expert tells Gareth Williams inquest that he believes Gareth was placed in bag by 3rd party
11:40	@skynewsgatherer	Inquest adjourned while officers prepare 999 call tape for the court. Back at 2pm
END OF SESSION 9. Friday Morning, April 27, 2012

Link to source of April 27 coverage