A freed prisoner brutally murdered a young woman just two weeks after being released from jail – and died himself when he was tasered by a policewoman, an inquest heard today.
Matthew Williams, 34, killed tragic shopworker Cerys Yemm in his “halfway house” hotel where he was put up after being freed from behind bars.
Cerys, 22, was found in his room covered in blood after a sickening attack by Williams.
Williams then collapsed when he was tasered by a lone woman police officer who attended the horrific scene.
A jury was told Williams and Yemm died in the early hours at the Sirhowy Arms hotel in Argoed on November 6, 2014.
Senior Gwent Coroner David Bowen said Miss Yemm met Williams on a night out in Blackwood just days after he was released from jail.
They kept in contact over the next fortnight by text – and met up the day before their deaths to go over his friend’s house.
Later that evening Miss Yemm – who lived with her mother – failed to return and instead went back to Williams’ hostel room with Williams around midnight.
Mr Bowen said: “Later, other residents heard screaming from Williams’ room just after 1am.
“The proprietor Mandy Miles got a key code for the room, and she will describe to you what she saw.
“She will say she saw a girl on her back on the floor with Williams lying on top of her and that it was horrific.
“There was blood everywhere. There were no signs of life from the girl.”
The court heard Williams answered “aggressively” and carried on attacking Miss Yemm’s body as she lay in the room.
A post mortem examination on Cerys recorded a provisional cause of death as sharp force trauma to the face and neck.
Police were called and entered the hostel around 1.37am and restrained an aggressive Williams “with force used.”
A taser was used “more than once” on the man by the policewoman which Mr Bowen said was in “stun mode”.
Williams stopped breathing soon after and was declared deceased at 2.18am.
The inquest was told Williams was released from HM Parc prison just two weeks before the killing after serving a 27 month sentence.
He was then given a room on the first floor at the halfway house by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Senior Coroner David Bowen told Gwent Coroner’s Court the inquest would explore what role the circumstances of Williams’ release played in the bloody murder.
He said: “We will explore whether relevant agencies knew about the risks surrounding his release and what steps were taken.
“We will look at his mental health. Williams had a history of contact with mental health services.
“We will also explore what assessments were made as to the risks of further offending and violence.”
Representatives from HM Parc Prison, the National Probation Service, G4S and the Chief Constable of Gwent Police were all in attendance, as well as the families of Miss Yemm and Williams.
The inquest, being held in Newport, was adjourned until Wednesday.
More needs to be done to target drugs on the street. In my day all we had was beer. Drugs are taking so many innocent lives, I can’t imagine how her parents must feel
In my day we had drugs of varying strengths and potencies. The more serious drugs were taboo but from what I’ve heard are now commonplace where I grew up.
This seems like some sort of progression toward some hideous end point. But I don’t know what that point is or if we could even control it if we tried. As a nation, I don’t believe we are trying to control it.
If anything the drift appears to be to legalise many drugs Pete. As you point out although drugs have been available around here for many years, the potency of these drugs seems to have increased in recent years.
The pro legalisation of drugs lobby always point out that alcohol is a major problem. This is true but the numbers using alcohol dwarfs that of the users of other drugs so there is not a direct comparison. Most people enjoy a drink all through their lives and never cause a problem to others.
I don’t know the answer, but urge caution on the part of the government in their slow but sure normalisation of the use of various drugs now available.
I think that the authorities who are now advocating not only class B drugs ( cannabis ) but also class A drugs ( such as heroin -a recent suggestion by Derbyshire Police to introduce controlled supply to known addicts) only goes to show that this is an admission by the authorities that they can’t control the supply of illegal drugs so are just giving up.
We must also remember that there is also an issue with some individuals dealing in prescription drugs( ie: selling on legally prescribed drugs )which while being slightly on a smaller scale of those dealing illegal drugs, also remains an issue.