By Emilia Randall
A horrified hotel owner dialled 999 to report “he’s eating her” after stumbling upon a 34 year old man standing over the lifeless body of a 22 year old woman in what resembled a scene from a “horror film.” In Mandy Miles’ panicked call for help, she questioned, “Is this real?” as she witnessed the ghastly scene unfold where Matthew Williams savagely attacked the face of his girlfriend and victim Cerys Yemm. Mandy was convinced she had seen a “cannibal” murder at the Sirhowy Arms Hotel in Argoed, near Caerphilly, South Wales, as reported by an inquest. She heard Cerys’s screams and informed the emergency operator: “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 7. 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?”. The distressing audio was played during Cerys’s inquest, which revealed that Williams, aged 34, had assaulted the 22 year old with a screwdriver before trying to consume her face shortly after they met on a night out in November 2014, reports the Express . Their initial encounter was near Blackwood, as Gwent Coroner’s Court learned. In a tragic turn of events, Williams had been released from prison just two weeks prior to the murder. Mandy, aged 50, called the authorities after witnessing the gruesome spectacle, recounting to the court how she unlocked the door following screams from his room around 1am, only to discover the waitress on her back with Williams atop her. Mandy disclosed the chilling details, saying “blood everywhere” and the scene was “like a horror film”. She recounted how Williams did not seem to notice her presence, sharing, “His head was down in hers. He didn’t react to my voice. I said ‘Matthew do you know what you’re doing?'”. She went on to explain the traumatic moment: “My son said ‘are you eating her?’ Even though science has shown he wasn’t – in my mind he was.” Details emerged police arrived 14 minutes after the distressing 999 call and used a Taser on Williams, who subsequently died. The inquest brought to light Williams’ troubled mental health history, detailing that the paranoid schizophrenic had been discharged from hospital without medication or supervision just two weeks prior, despite a history of psychiatric detainment and experiencing auditory hallucinations, as reported by BBC News. His estranged mother, Sally Ann Williams, revealed heartbreaking attempts to secure medical help, stating her son had expressed increasing paranoia and that “the voices were back” shortly before the tragic event. In a decisive conclusion, the inquest jury ruled that Cerys Yemm’s death was an unlawful killing caused by Williams, a finding that her family welcomed. A jury spokesman illuminated the harrowing circumstances surrounding Yemm’s demise, citing sharp force trauma to the face and neck as the specified medical cause of death, with the spokesperson noting, “In the early hours of November 6, 2014 Cerys Yemm was with a companion in his room when she was attacked. He said she suffered from ” He described her injuries as “violent”. The hearing was told about Williams’ troubled past, including a stint in a young offenders’ institution at 15, which led to him becoming a “nightmare” upon returning home. After resorting to theft for drug money and becoming well-known to police, he moved into foster care. Eventually diagnosed with drug-induced paranoid schizophrenia, his mother believed prison wasn’t right for her son. Rhodri Moore, his best friend, recalled that initially after release from jail, Williams seemed alright, but quickly deteriorated “after the first couple days”. Rhodri shared: “He was taking drugs on a daily basis. He said when he looked at a can of Coke he could see faces. He wasn’t very well. He was seeing things, hallucinating. He was annoyed and on edge. Depressed. “He couldn’t get any medication. His mother was trying very hard to get someone to see him. He was willing to be helped. He wanted to be helped.”