The mother of a man believed to have murdered a young woman in an act of cannibalism has said her son was a habitual criminal who had suffered psychiatric problems since he was 16 and claimed he had been unable to access the medication he needed to keep his condition in check.
Matthew Williams had recently been released from prison when he invited Cerys Marie Yemm, 22, back to the hostel where he was staying in a south Wales valley and launched his savage attack.
Williams’ mother, Sally Ann Williams, said her son, who died after police fired at Taser at him to try to force him to leave Yemm’s body, had paranoid schizophrenia and should have been in hospital rather than living with little or no supervision in the community.
She said: “He would see things that were not there, he would hear voices, say food was trying to poison him and he would hallucinate. He was aggressive to people he thought were a threat to him.
“He should have been in hospital. Every time he came out of prison, we’d go through the same process. He’d be placed in a hostel somewhere with very little supervision and no psychiatric help outside.”
Speaking to the BBC, she added the last time she saw him was the day before the attack, which took place in the early hours of Thursday last week, when he was “troubled but not desperate”. They had hugged and had arranged to meet the next day for breakfast.
At least three inquiries will examine the horrific incident at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed, near Blackwood in Caerphilly.
Gwent police have launched a murder inquiry into the death of Yemm, who worked for the clothing retailer Next, while the watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission will examine the use of the Taser on 34-year-old Williams.
The Ministry of Justice said a serious further offence review would take place to see if lessons could be learned from the case. Such reviews are launched if a serious offence is alleged to have happened within 30 days of a person leaving prison.
Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd, who sits on the House of Commons justice committee, said he thought the tragedy was “probably avoidable” had Williams been subject to proper supervision. It is understood that because Williams served his full prison sentence he was not subject to any supervision by probation officers.
Llwyd said he planned to bring up the issues arising from the case at a justice committee meeting on Monday afternoon and would call for a review of sentencing laws to make sure potentially dangerous offenders have access to supervision.
Members of the Welsh assembly have also expressed concern. William Graham, a Tory member for South Wales East, said: “It is now clear that Mr Williams posed a risk to the public. Questions must be answered by authorities and a full explanation provided on the decisions taken in this extremely tragic case.”
William’s mother expressed her condolences to the victim’s family and said: “He should have been in hospital. In my opinion, he should have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act a long time ago.”
Speaking at her home in Blackwood, she said: “Every time he came out of prison, we’d go through the same process. He’d be placed in a hostel somewhere with very little supervision and no psychiatric help outside.”
Ms Williams said she had met her son almost daily after his release from prison and noticed his condition deteriorating. Two days before the attack she claims he told her he was “already hearing voices”.
“I said he needed sleep and tried to persuade him to see a doctor but he wouldn’t,” she said. The day before the attack she did some shopping for him and dropped it off at the Sirhowy Arms hostel and they agreed to meet again the following day.
There are contrasting claims about what drugs, if any, Williams had taken before the attack. Some people who were with him on the night of the attack said he had taken the stimulant mephedrone. One friend has claimed he had also been prescribed beta blockers – though his mother’s testimony seems to contradict this claim.
Postmortems are taking place on Williams, who was known locally as Fifi, and Yemm. The victim’s family, who are also from Blackwood, are being supported by police family liaison officers.
