Man jailed for six-and-a-half years for abusing partner who killed herself

A “monster” who subjected his vulnerable partner to assault and years of domestic abuse but was cleared of her manslaughter has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Ryan Wellings, 30, was cleared of the unlawful killing of Kiena Dawes, 23, who left a suicide note calling her partner a “monster” who had “killed me”.

She left the note and their nine-month-old daughter with a friend before killing herself on a railway line on July 22 2022.

Prosecutors took the highly unusual step of charging Wellings with manslaughter and he was the first defendant to face trial for the unlawful killing of his partner after her suicide following domestic violence.

He was convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour over a two-year period but cleared of manslaughter by the jury on Monday after a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court.

At his sentencing hearing on Thursday, Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, urged the judge to sentence Wellings on the basis that his conduct “formed the background and set the scene” for Ms Dawes’ death.

Judge Robert Altham, Honorary Recorder of Preston, jailed Wellings for six-and-a-half years.

Jurors heard that Ms Dawes, a hairdresser from Fleetwood in Lancashire, had suffered two years of violence and abuse at the hands of Wellings.

She had been diagnosed with an emotionally unstable personality disorder, resulting in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships, a condition allegedly exploited by the defendant.

She had attempted suicide in the past before her relationship with Wellings, and his lawyers told the court her death was due to “multiple factors”.

Bubbly and happy-go-lucky, she had been “swept off her feet” by Wellings, a landscape gardener from Bispham, who had a previous conviction for battering an ex-partner, the mother of his twin girls.

Wellings had Ms Dawes’ name and face tattooed on his body within a week of meeting, and proposed marriage within three months.

But she later said her “fairy tale” had turned into a “nightmare” with Wellings, who had a vicious temper and regularly had cocaine and drink binges, the court heard.

Described by Mr Greaney as an “entitled, aggressive bully” and by Ms Dawes’ friends as a “horrible little bastard” with a jealous streak, he did not like being answered back to.

His abuse of Ms Dawes included regular slapping and “ragging” by her hair, and threats to use a drill to take out her teeth and to “make her look like Katie Piper” by throwing acid in her face, jurors heard.

After she became pregnant, Wellings gave her a black eye and began criticising her weight, calling her a “fat little bitch” while contacting escorts and prostitutes online.

Friends and her mother warned Ms Dawes to “run a mile” from “toxic” Wellings, but a pattern developed of break-up and make-up as he made excuses for his behaviour.

Police were called more than once, but Wellings threatened Ms Dawes that their daughter would be taken off them if she told them what was happening, so she declined to help prosecute him.

Mr Greaney read Ms Dawes’ suicide note to jurors: “The end. I fought hard, I fought long. I went through pain no-one could imagine.

“I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I had dreams. I had a future at one point. That was taken away from me.”

Wellings admitted getting “heavy-handed” with Ms Dawes, but claimed any injuries she suffered were accidental or a result of him trying to restrain her.

A final battering “broke” Ms Dawes, leaving her needing hospital treatment. This time she did make a statement to police and he was arrested.

He broke his bail conditions but was not locked up, leaving Ms Dawes feeling let down by police. Four days later she killed herself.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Dawes’ mother, Angela Dawes, said she felt the prosecution of Wellings had “violated” her daughter again, adding: “I have had to sit through an almost six-week trial and watch the private life of my daughter pulled apart and her mental health scrutinised and assessed. She has been violated. There is no other word for it.

“It has also been extremely traumatic for me to see Kiena so upset talking to police officers and to look back retrospectively at her so helpless in life and reaching out for help, knowing what ultimately happened to her.”

Three Lancashire Constabulary officers are facing disciplinary hearings over the case.

Only one other defendant has been convicted in such circumstances before, Nicholas Allen, who admitted the manslaughter of his partner, Justene Reece, before his trial in 2017.

From 2020 to 2023, 723 domestic abuse-related deaths were identified by police in England and Wales, of which 216 were suspected victim suicides, a study found.

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