The owner of a hostel where a man killed a woman in a suspected act of cannibalism has described the horrific scene she found when she went into his room after cries for help had been heard.
Mandy Miles said Matthew Williams, who killed 22-year-old Cerys Yemm, was covered in blood and had “black eyes” while his victim had terrible facial injuries. She said: “I can still see the amount of blood and the stillness of her, there were no signs of life at that point. I said to Matthew: “Do you know what you’re doing to that girl?”. He said: ‘That’s no girl.’”
Miles claimed Williams did not recognise her – or what he was doing.
After realising that Yemm was dead, Miles said she closed the door and held the knob so Williams could not flee while she waited for police.
A lone female officer was the first on the scene. Williams died after being shot at with a Taser.
Williams, 34, was staying at the Sirhowy Arms hotel in Argoed, Blackwood, south Wales, after being released from prison. A serious further offence review will take place to see if lessons can be learned from the case amid claims that Williams was unable access the medication he needed to control his paranoid schizophrenia.
Miles said that before last week’s attack Williams was friendly and polite but she had been unaware his past. “I didn’t have any fear of Matthew; I didn’t know anything about him. The council are not told it either – it’s always ‘data protection’.”
The hostel is used by Caerphilly council to place single homeless men. Miles called for more information to be shared between agencies. She said: “I need to know who is walking through my door. Someone needs to give me a bit of a heads up and people’s backgrounds. If they’ve come from prison, I think I personally should be told what’s happened.”
Gwent police are investigating Yemm’s murder while the Independent Police Complaints Commission is looking into the use of the Taser.
