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Gwenno Ephraim was last seen five months ago, heading towards the Menai Suspension Bridge
Gwenno Ephraim had been happy at school until the age of 16 but the move to college was a difficult transition for her. Then came the pandemic, and a traumatic event in the family, her mental health made her vulnerable and she found herself in prison.
Since August 2025, the 22-year-old has been missing, last seen near the Menai Suspension Bridge. Their MP and the UK Government’s justice minister, agree that Gwenno and her family have been “failed”.
In January 2022, Gwenno’s mum, Karen, contacted her local MP asking for help after her daughter had tried to kill herself. Gwenno was admitted, but then discharged from the local district hospital after two days in A&E and due to the pandemic, the mental health team were not making home visits.
A year later, Gwenno pleaded guilty to six charges at Caernarfon magistrates court, which included the assault of a healthcare worker at the Hergest mental health unit in Ysbyty Gwynedd.
It was her first experience of the criminal justice system and she was sentenced to 44 weeks in prison.
Wales doesn’t have a prison or secure accommodation for women so she was sent over 100 miles away from her home to HMP Styal, in Cheshire, where she was held for a period of three months.
Explaining Gwenno’s story in the House of Commons this week, her MP, Liz Saville-Roberts said her family, including mum Karen, her half-sister and brother, acknowledge Gwenno’s victims “deserve justice” but that her story demonstrates the many issues facing people in the criminal justice system.
“Three months was not long enough for Gwenno to be able to get a proper diagnosis for her mental illness, but it was long enough to churn her life into chaos,” Ms Saville-Roberts said.
Gwenno was released without a fixed address, far from home. “Despite being on suicide watch while in prison, Gwenno was released back into the community, where her refusal to engage was a sufficient reason for accommodation to be withdrawn,” she said.
“She could not stay with her mother, as her behaviour posed a threat to the younger children. This was the beginning of a vortex of bed and breakfast rooms, breaches of licence conditions, pointlessly short returns to HMP Styal, hand washing over terms like “capacity”, when Gwenno’s vulnerability was obvious, and harrowing mental health episodes in train stations, hospitals and north Wales seaside towns.”
When Gwenno lost her train ticket home from HMP Styal, she missed her probation appointment back home in Wales which meant she breached the terms of her licence and was sent back to prison.
Gwenno was in and out eight times between January and July.
Her MP asked how people like Gwenno are supposed to cope when “cut off from the support that they need to negotiate the difficult space between prison and rehabilitation”.
“After offending, the only place where Gwenno found the safety of routine was in prison; this year. How is it possible for a young woman to be released from suicide watch in prison to chaotic bed-and-breakfast accommodation over and over again?” Ms Saville-Roberts asked.
On August 7, 2025, North Wales Police put out a missing person appeal for Gwenno. It read: “Officers investigating the disappearance of 22-year-old Gwenno Ephraim continue to appeal for information to identify an individual who may hold information vital to their enquiries.
“Gwenno was last seen on the night of Monday, 28 July in the upper Bangor area.
“She is known to have walked in the direction of Menai Bridge. CCTV footage reviewed by investigators appears to show her walking alone between 10.20pm and 11.10pm. It is understood Gwenno had reached the Menai Suspension Bridge shortly before 11.10pm.
“A female pedestrian was captured crossing on the opposite side of the bridge at that time.”
Gwenno has not been seen since. Emergency services and the RNLI carried out searches but found nothing.
Samaritans details
You can contact the Samaritans for non-judgmental advice 24/7, 365 days a year, by calling 116 123 or by emailing jo@samaritans.org.
They also have an online chat service and a self-help app, or you can write them a letter for free at Freepost SAMARITANS LETTERS
An inquest has not been opened because Gwenno is officially missing. Her mum cannot get hold of her daughter’s medical notes, as she has not got her daughter’s permission to access them.
Ms Saville-Robert said: “That is all logical, officially, but it makes no sense to a grieving mother looking for answers.”
She raised the issue in the Commons with justice minister Alex Davies-Jones, the MP for Pontypridd.
While health and homelessness support through councils are devolved to Wales, criminal justice is not.
Welsh women’s experience of the criminal justice system epitomises what Cardiff University academics Dr Rob Jones and Professor Richard Wyn Jones conceptualised as the “jagged edge” of justice in Wales where, because some elements are devolved and some are not, there are overlapping and disjointed powers.
She said prisoners in Wales are moved far from their families and there isn’t support for those who use the Welsh language.
“Around 30% of prisoners from Wales were being held across 109 prisons in England, away from their families, support networks, culture and sometimes their first language, as was exactly the case for Gwenno,” the Dwyfor Meirionydd MP said.
She said the probation service is overstretched. “It is no secret that the probation system is overstretched, and that is an accepted reason behind the higher rates of ex-offenders like Gwenno being recalled to prison and behind any risks not being taken when there are breaches in licence conditions.
“A major overhaul is necessary,” she said, calling for the full devolution of justice to Wales.
“Let us put ourselves in the position of Gwenno’s family. They have seen how offenders and ex-offenders in Wales, and their families, are failed by a resolute lack of joined-up thinking. It is through the full devolution of the criminal justice system that we can start to fix structural problems and address systematic issues in Wales that hinder both effective rehabilitation and the safety and welfare of victims, survivors and their families.
“This is not a political ask or a tick-box on a constitutional wish list; it is a pragmatic solution with the needs of people victims and offenders within their communities at its heart.
“Will the Minister please meet Gwenno’s family, Karen Ephraim? It is better if the questions come from her mother than from her Member of Parliament. Let us remember that Gwenno was in the care of the state in prison, in hospital and on licence. We failed her.”
Ms Davies-Jones said she would ensure that meeting happened.
“Gwenno is a prime example of exactly how the criminal justice system is not working. It is exactly why we set up the women’s justice board. It is exactly why we need to close the gaps and ensure that women like Gwenno are given the support that they need, rather than necessarily a prison sentence.
“It is why we have taken forward work looking at recommendations on short sentences, which serve no one, and potentially create better criminals, rather than better citizens.
“It is why there needs to be better wraparound support, and better support services available for women like Gwenno. It is a mission of this government and of the justice department to ensure that we do not fail women like Gwenno going forward.”
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