A POLICE officer who requested that Matthew Williams’ letters and phone calls be intercepted in prison after he made threats in previous correspondence, was not made aware of a subsequent letter with similar content, an inquest was told.

Seven letters sent by Williams to his former partner - in which he made threats to her and a serving police officer and his family - were given to police in April 2014.

Carl Hughes, then a police constable on Gwent Police’s integrated offender management team (IOMT) in Blackwood, then asked Parc Prison if Williams’ correspondence could subsequently be intercepted.

In June, the probation service was told an eighth letter had been intercepted - in which Williams threatened to assault various police officers and their families on his release.

But Mr Hughes, now retired, told the inquest into the deaths of Williams and 22-year-old Cerys Yemm, of Oakdale, that he was until now, unaware of it.

The IOMT had been looking into the possibility of pursuing a charge against Williams over the threats in the original letters, though his former partner had not wanted to get involved.

Mr Hughes had requested on May 1 2014 that interceptions be made and he told the inquest that when he checked on June 3, he had not been made aware of anything of concern.

The inquest was told that the latter threatening letter had been reported after that date, to the probation service, but Mr Hughes said he had not made aware of it.

The inquest also heard from Williams’ GP Dr Nishebita Das, who said she had seen him on October 29 - six days after his release from prison, and eight days before his death - and had issued him a medical certificate for the purpose of claiming benefits.

Nicholas Bowen QC, for Williams’ family, suggested she had been mistaken and had not seen Williams that day, but someone she thought was him. But she denied this.