Argoed murder inquest: The evidence heard so far

The inquest into the deaths of 22-year-old shopworker Cerys Yemm, from Oakdale, and her killer Matthew Williams, is being heard in Newport by Gwent Coroner David Bowen.

At time of press, the hearing is coming to the end of its third week. Here is a round-up of the evidence given so far.

Released prisoner Matthew Williams was high on amphetamine and cannabis when he brutally killed 22-year-old Cerys Yemm at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed on November 6, 2014.

Williams was tasered four times by attending police officers who had been called by the hostel’s landlady after she walked in on the attack.

The Blackwood man later died after suffering from a cardiac arrest.

The jury inquest has heard how Williams, who had a history of drug abuse and had previously been diagnosed with drug-induced paranoid schizophrenia, met Miss Yemm in Blackwood around a fortnight before her death – a short time after he had been released from prison.

School friend Rhodri Moore said he, Williams, and Miss Yemm, had been smoking cannabis and drinking lager together before Miss Yemm and Williams went back to the Sirhowy Arms on the night of their deaths.

In the days leading up to the attack, Mr Moore said Williams had taken drugs on a daily basis and had binged on amphetamines and cannabis.

Following a post-mortem, Williams was found to have 12.2 grams of class B mephedrone, 9.9 grams of mephedrone mixed with monosodium glutamate and 1.02 grams of amphetamine sulphate mixed with caffeine.

Earlier that night, Williams had been on the phone to Miss Yemm’s ex-boyfriend who he knew in prison.

A statement from Miss Yemm’s mother Paula Yemm, said her daughter was in what she considered to be a “controlling” relationship with a man called Jay who was in prison with Williams.

Mrs Yemm said the couple were “planning a life together after he was released” and Jay had warned Miss Yemm to stay away from Williams.

Williams was released from prison on October 23, 2014, after serving a 27-month sentence.

The inquest was told how he had been housed in the hostel by Caerphilly County Borough Council, but had not been monitored by the probation service because he had served his sentence in full.

Deputy head of public protection, Jonathan Matthews, told the hearing: “At the point of the sentence ending, whether we like it or not, we have no power.”

Probation officer Nick Tetley told the inquest he took over Williams’ case in March 2014 and saw him once before his release from prison.

Mr Tetley said during the meeting Williams seemed disinterested and was unwilling to engage. He added that Williams had turned down offers of housing, drug or alcohol help.

He said he had no issues regarding his mental health during the meeting, and Williams told him he wanted to see a GP to carry on with his medication “as a safety net”.

Despite concerns of the risk of serious harm posed by Williams, neither Caerphilly nor Newport councils were told about the risks he posed. The inquest was also told Williams had made threats to kill specific people, including his ex-partner, in several letters sent from inside prison.

Williams’ mother, Sally Ann Williams, told the inquest her son had previously been diagnosed with drug-induced schizophrenia after claiming he was a tree and saying his food was poisoned.

She said he had been placed in foster care as a teenager after being caught stealing to buy drugs, and his drug addiction was “set in” after he returned from a young offenders institute.

His mental health “deteriorated” after he split up from the mother of his son around three years before he killed Miss Yemm.

Mrs Williams said: “At some point he was sectioned once or twice but I don’t know the details.”

She added: “There was no mental health support whatsoever. He told me he’d been released without any medication.”

She said her son complained “the voices were back” in the days before the killing.

“He told me his head wasn’t right,” she said.

She dropped food off outside his hostel, hours before he killed Miss Yemm, where he “seemed fine” and received a text from him later which said he’d made “a lovely dinner” with the food she’d brought him.

Williams had been to see his GP, Dr Nishebita Das in Bargoed on 29 October 2014, five days after being released, to get a sick note so that he could claim benefits.

Dr Das said he was “smart and seemed pretty well” during the appointment.

She had seen Williams several times in the past with mental health issues and described him as a “disturbed person”. A letter sent from the prison said he was “quite well”, was not receiving medication and that no referral had been made to the community psychiatric health team.

On the night of the attack, Sirhowy Arms landlady Mandy Miles heard screams coming from Williams’ room.

She unlocked the door to see Williams on top of the body of Miss Yemm.

A 999 call played to the jury heard how Mrs Miles, 50, rang police to get help.

She told the operator: “He’s shoving a screwdriver in her face. He’s actually chewing her face.

“He’s been locked in room seven. I don’t know who he’s hurting.

“There’s a lad in the room. He’s actually eating her. It’s awful. His name is Matthew Williams and he’s in room seven.”

The tape hears Mrs Miles sobbing as she says: “There was screaming and screaming. Oh my God. It’s awful.

“I went into the room and he’s killed her. Oh my God. Is this real?

“There’s blood everywhere and it looks like a horror film.

“He was using the screwdriver and stabbing,” said Mrs Miles.

She told the inquest: “I shouted to him, ‘Matthew, do you know what you are doing? Are you eating her?’

“Science has proved that he wasn’t but that’s what it looked like. There’s just blood dripping from her. It was horrific.”

The 999 call was placed at around 1am, and officers were sent to the hostel.

First on the scene was PC Kelda Griffiths, who described hearing “demonic” shouting and growling coming from Williams’ room.

PC Griffiths had been ordered to go into the hostel four times because a life was at risk, but instead waited for police backup because she knew she would be facing Williams alone.

She had been familiar with Williams for over a decade and said he was known to be violent, especially towards police.

Colleague PC Alan Cotterell arrived and said Williams “looked possessed” when he entered the room, and that the attack was “the most horrendous thing” he had seen.

The Taser-trained officer told the inquest he recognised Williams’ name when it was given over the radio.

He said: “I have never been more scared in my entire life.

“I spoke to him but he was looking possessed. There was an angry sort of look and his eyes were almost all black.”

PC Cotterell said he had dealt with Williams a few times previously, the first being in 2012 when Williams was tasered by another officer and it had not worked.

In total, Williams was tasered four times with one single Taser gun after he managed to withstand the weapon’s discharge. The officers said they believed Williams would have carried on the attack.

After he was tasered, Williams was finally restrained by officers using straps.

The jury was also told that an officer wearing a newly-issued bodycam had forgotten to switch the device on.

PC Sion Jenkins was among five officers in the room who had tried to restrain Williams. He said he had not received training on how to use the bodycam, which was being introduced to the force as part of a pilot project.

Recently retired officer Stephen New, who was a police operations safety medic at the time, made the initial medical assessment on Williams after realising Miss Yemm was dead.

He told the inquest: “It was so difficult to say when examining him to see if he had any injuries on him as he was covered in blood.”

Williams was in an ambulance when Mr New said he turned from red to orange and then a ghostly white.

The former PC, who had served with Gwent Police for almost 25 years, began to perform CPR on Williams in the back of an ambulance but without success.

A statement from Dr Derick Todd, a consultant cardiologist, was read out to the jury said Williams had suffered a cardiac arrest.

It said: “In my opinion, the available evidence supports the fact that the Taser use did not induce the cardiac arrest.”

The stress Williams would have been under while being restrained, and the amphetamine in his blood, would have contributed to his collapse.

Forensic toxicologist John Slaughter said Williams could have been suffering from drug-induced “excited delirium” when the attacked happened.

He told the hearing it could be caused by the use of stimulant drugs and there were a number of symptoms including insensitivity to pain, no response to verbal commands and growling or making animal noises.

In the aftermath of the attack, forensic scientist Gillian O’Boyle examined the scene and said it contained 15 pieces of broken crockery that fitted together to form an almost complete cereal bowl.

Most of the pieces had blood on them, with DNA analysis showing it belonged to Miss Yemm and Williams. The pattern of the blood, she said, indicated the bowl had been used to hit an individual, although she could not say who had been holding it.

Forensic dentist Romina Carabott said three bite marks on Miss Yemm’s abdomen and another on her wrist were probably all caused by Williams.

Pathologist Dr Richard Jones, who carried out Miss Yemm’s post-mortem, found 24 areas of injury across her body with at least 89 separate injures.

Half of the injuries were to her head, and the cause of death was given as “sharp force trauma to the face and neck”. The bite marks had no bearing on her death, nor did traces of amphetamines and cannabis in her body.

The inquest continues.