‘I heard about my sister’s murder via social media’
THE sister of a woman who was killed by an exprisoner at a Welsh hostel has described how she found out about the horrific death through social media.
Cerys Yemm’s sister, Shannon, told the Victoria Derbyshire BBC TV show that she heard about her sister’s death from Facebook and messages people sent her via social media.
An inquest earlier this month heard that Matthew Williams, 34, was under the influence of amphetamines when he used broken pieces of pottery to cut Cerys’ face, neck and body at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed, near Blackwood, in the early hours of November 6, 2014.
The 22-year-old, who suffered at least 89 separate injuries and died at the scene, had gone with Williams to the hotel where he had been staying since his release from prison two weeks previously.
Williams died after being Tasered by police at the scene.
Cerys’ mother, Paula, was told the news of her daughter’s murder by police officers who visited her at work on November 6.
She told the programme: “That is when our nightmare began.”
The devastated mum said she had trouble taking in what the police had told her, but she wanted to be the one to tell the rest of the family.
But younger daughter Shannon had already seen things on social media and had people phoning and messaging her before Paula was able to tell her.
Shannon told the programme: “I saw a post that there had been a murder in Argoed. I had to drive home from Cardiff after getting a Facebook message.
“And then I had people messaging me via Facebook message saying: ‘please don’t tell me it’s true, it’s not your sister is it’.
“My mum couldn’t tell me because she was crying and so upset, she couldn’t speak on the phone.
“I tried calling Cerys, but there was no answer.”
Asked what the impact had been on their lives, Shannon said: “It just changes your life. You want to hear from the police or your family. There was no comfort in a Facebook message. It is hard.”
Paula added: “Cerys was quirky, beautiful. She had quite a difficult few years, but she was at the point where she was getting things back on track. She was looking to retrain to get into nursing and she was back to her old self, happy doing nice things.
“She was a real bookworm and would spend hours up in her bedroom reading. She was so quiet and you wouldn’t have known she was there. “She didn’t go out and socialise an awful lot and certainly not until the weeks that led up to the 6th of November.
“I noticed a change at that point. She did come home when she said she would, being a bit more secretive. I was worried at that point.”
The family said they also found out about the allegations of cannibalism from social media. Shannon said people were sharing the story and she tried to keep it from her mum.
But Paula found out after seeing the news headlines alongside a picture of her daughter. She said: “I woke up at 4am and I walked into the livingroom and I saw Cerys’ picture and those headlines, and you can’t describe it as a parent.
“Just the fact of losing her in a horrific way and seeing those headlines about your child... I still can’t comprehend that today.”
On the programme the family claimed that the police did not give them enough information about what had happened to Cerys and that they had to wait more than two years to find out the truth at the inquest.
Paula claimed: “At no point were we sat down as a family and told about her injuries in any way. I was told at first it was a head injury. At the opening of the inquest we heard it was sharp-force trauma to the face and neck.
“I went to the police to ask if this was true and they said ‘yes, it was’. I feel we were left in the dark.”
Paula also complained about the lack of monitoring of Williams after he was released from prison.
He had spent much of his life in and out of prison, suffered mental health issues and was released without medication and used controlled substances heavily in the days leading up to the incident.
The inquest was told Williams wanted to move to Newport after he was released from HMP Parc in Bridgend on October 23, 2014, and planned to work with his father, but he was sent back to Caerphilly instead.
Paula said: “He had no rehabilitation, no interagency working, there was no sharing of information. He was basically put in a place and nobody was told about the risks.”
Shannon added: “It has ruined our lives and there has been a lack of support.”
A Gwent Police spokesman said: “Cerys Yemm was killed in the most tragic of circumstances and Gwent Police did what we thought was respectful and sensitive in these very difficult circumstances.
“At the time of the incident, the family asked specifically that limited information be given to them regarding Cerys’ injuries.
“In order to limit the impact of such a horrific and gruesome event for the family, Gwent Police respected this request.”