‘TIME BOMB’
Killer’s explosion of violence ‘was waiting to happen’, expert finds Victim’s family call for hostel murder scene to be demolished Psychotic offender started taking drugs when he was nine
VERDICTS RETURNED ON HOSTEL DEATHS
A KILLER was experiencing a psychotic episode brought on by his use of cannabis and amphetamine when he brutally killed and mutilated a “beautiful and caring” young woman, an inquest jury found yesterday.
Jurors said Matthew Williams, 34, who suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after being Tasered by police officers responding to a 999 call, died a “sudden, unexpected” death caused through a “culmination of illicit drug use and struggle against restraint”, Gwent Coroner’s Court heard.
Yesterday, the jury found that Cerys Yemm, 22 – who was attacked by Williams in his first floor room at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed, Blackwood, at about 1am on November 6, 2014 – was killed unlawfully by him.
Williams used the broken shards of a cereal bowl to cut her face and neck, removed one of her eyes, and bit her stomach, the inquest heard.
Miss Yemm’s screams alerted other residents and hotel owner Mandy Miles opened the door to the room to find the “horrific” scene of Williams, who had a history of drug use and mental health problems, on top of her with blood dripping from his mouth.
Williams carried on with his grisly attack despite the interruption, snarling “that is no girl” when he was asked what he was doing to Miss Yemm.
In relation to his death, jurors said: “In the early hours of November 6, 2014, Matthew Williams was in his room at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel. Prior to his death Matthew took amphetamine and cannabis which led him to experience drug-induced psychosis.”
They said the drug use “caused him to become violent” and added: “After the subsequent arrival of the police Matthew was restrained and he resisted arrest. He was attended by paramedics but his condition deteriorated and he was transferred to an ambulance (where) attempts were made to resuscitate him. Matthew was pronounced dead at 2.18am.”
In his summing up, coroner David T Bowen told jurors the only finding they could make in respect of Miss Yemm’s death was of unlawful killing.
In respect of the circumstances of her death, the jury said: “In the early hours of November 6, 2014, Cerys Yemm was with a companion in his room at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel when she was violently attacked and she suffered severe and fatal injuries.”
Mr Bowen directed the jury to return a narrative finding in respect of Williams and said he did not require them to make any findings of fact in relation to the wider circumstances.
In a statement released after the inquest, Miss Yemm’s family said: “We want to pay tribute to our beautiful daughter Cerys, who was kind, caring and could always see the best in people.”
They said Miss Yemm was killed while Williams was in a psychotic state through illegal drug abuse.
“Throughout this inquest we have been searching for the answers to our questions as to how her murder, which has so devastated our family, could take place in the heart of our community and why the agencies responsible for protecting the public from violent offenders could not prevent this awful event from occurring.”
They also called for the hostel where she died to be demolished because it “serves as an unbearable reminder of the loss of Cerys”.
Williams’ family have said evidence heard during the inquest exposed “clear failings” in the mental health,
housing and criminal justice system.
In a statement read out on behalf of the family, they said: “We hope that this case will highlight the need for better mental health care and lead to the effective sharing of information between state agencies and that another family will not have to go through what families touched by this inquest have had to endure.”
The family said they would like to repeat their “sincere condolences” to Miss Yemm’s family.
They said: “In participating in this inquest we have not sought to excuse our son’s actions but have tried to understand them. Matthew was a very troubled man with significant mental health difficulties made worse by drug abuse. He had needed long-term support and treatment for many years but this was not available either in prison or in the community.
“We were also surprised the health board, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, chose to play no part in this process.”
Williams, who had 26 previous convictions for 78 offences, was released from HMP Parc, Bridgend, on October 23, 2014, having served all of a 27-month sentence for blackmail.
The inquest heard Williams, of Blackwood, who was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, was released with no medication, his mental health having stabilised in custody.
He refused to accept support from probation or police saying they could “f*** off” and he was a free man who wanted to get on with his life.
After his release, Williams met Miss Yemm, from Oakdale, on a night out and they formed a “flirty” relationship.
He also spent a weekend taking amphetamine and mephedrone, also known as “meow meow”, and not sleeping while partying with a friend, Rhodri Moore, the inquest heard.
On November 5, Mr Moore and Williams picked Miss Yemm up from the home she shared with her mother and sister and the trio went to Mr Moore’s house where they drank lager and smoked cannabis.
Mr Moore said his friend, who was “a lovely guy until you cross him”, was not “getting the help he needed” after his release and was having hallucinations, including seeing faces in cans of soft drink. He added Williams did not take any drugs, apart from cannabis, while at his house but he could tell he “wasn’t in the right frame of mind from the weekend”.
The inquest heard Williams became upset when they started watching a documentary about the psychiatric hospital Broadmoor and said: “What are you watching these psychos for?”
But Mr Moore said the relationship between Williams and Miss Yemm was on the way to becoming boyfriend and girlfriend and there did not appear to be strain between them before they left his house at about 11.30pm that evening.
Jurors were shown CCTV footage of Miss Yemm and Williams arriving at the hotel and of Williams leaving his room twice between midnight and 1am, including to brush his teeth.
The 999 call recording was played during the hearing and jurors heard Mrs Miles screaming, crying and shouting “oh God, oh God”, while begging the police to come quickly.
She said: “He has put a screwdriver through her face and is eating her...”
Mrs Miles later said “science” had proven Williams was not eating Miss Yemm.
Police arrived at 1.37am and Taser-trained officer PC Alan Cottrell said the scene that awaited them was the “most horrendous thing I have ever seen”.
ABMU health board issued a statement after the inquest “offering our condolences to the families of Cerys Yemm and Matthew Williams for the loss of their loved ones”.
It added: “During his time at Parc Prison, Matthew Williams received regular and well documented healthcare services. He was seen four times in seven months by the forensic mental health consultants, and 14 times by mental health nurses. This was far more intense mental health input than he would have received in the community. Healthcare staff also actively encouraged Mr Williams to take part in courses to deal with his chronic use of illicit substances, but he declined these.”
AN “IMMENSELY dangerous” prolific offender who brutally attacked and killed a young woman just two weeks after being released from prison was a “time bomb” and the woman’s death was a terrible thing waiting to happen, according to a forensic psychologist.
Professor Robert Snowden, a lecturer at Cardiff University, said even a “cursory” pre-release risk assessment should have revealed that despite Matthew Williams’ apparent mental stability while in custody, the chances of him deteriorating as soon as he was released were “massive”.
Cerys Yemm, 22, died from her injuries after Williams attacked her using shards of a broken cereal bowl in his room at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed on November 6, 2014.
Williams was Tasered by police and died at the scene after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Prof Snowden studied the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales report on the deaths and looked at evidence from the inquest at Gwent Coroner’s Court which ended yesterday.
He did a risk assessment based on what was known before Williams, 34, was released from HMP Parc, Bridgend, on October 23, 2014.
He said the results of his HCR-20 assessment – “the gold standard of risk assessment for violence to others” – showed it was “obvious” this was “a terrible thing waiting to happen” and pointed to Williams’ history of violence and his “strong anti-social or anti-authoritarian streak” as important factors.
The inquest heard a probation risk assessment compiled on October 10, 2014, two weeks before Williams was released, classed him as a “medium risk” of serious harm to the public.
The probation officer who carried out the assessment said there was nothing in Williams’ past that gave any indication he might commit an offence such as the one on Miss Yemm.
Prof Snowden said he would have classed Williams as a “very high” risk of harm to the public.
He said: “The thing to really notice is first of all he uses weapons, which means that the violence could be fatal and that he attacks just about everybody... this is a person who is immensely dangerous.”
Prof Snowden said Williams’ noncompliance with medication and the efforts of people to help him, plus his “massive amount of drug use from an early age”, were other risk factors.
Williams was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2004, though the diagnosis was subsequently questioned, and the HIW report concluded it was “more likely that he was experiencing drug-induced psychotic episodes”.
Prof Snowden pointed to confusion over diagnosis as a problem in identifying the risk Williams posed. He said: “They were busy treating his possible disorder and wondering what it was when they should have really been looking at his attitudes and his violence.”
Prof Snowden added: “The problem they seem to have is that he had served his time and therefore had to be released, and was absolutely refusing any sort of help, so they seem to have got his mental health stable for a moment while he was in prison.
“I think even a cursory risk assessment would have realised that the chances of him deteriorating as soon as he was released were massive, that he would take drugs again and this would affect his mental health again, and he would be back to his most dangerous within days.
“So, what really happened is that the drugs pour fuel onto that fire. He would be a dangerous person anyway but with this massive amount of drugs inside him, he was a time bomb.”
The inquest heard even if Williams had been considered a high or very high risk, probation could only offer services on a voluntary basis because he had served his whole sentence.