Man who abused ex-girlfriend before she killed herself cleared of manslaughter
A man whose girlfriend accused him of driving her to suicide after subjecting her to a campaign of horrendous domestic abuse has been cleared of manslaughter.
Kiena Dawes, 23, told friends she had been ‘bullied’ and ‘terrorised’ by Ryan Wellings, 30, during their turbulent two-year relationship.
The young mum said he had slapped her, called her a ‘disgusting fat bitch’, held a drill to her mouth and threatened to throw acid in her face.
She ended her life on a railway line in Lancashire on July 22, 2022, after leaving her nine-month-old daughter at a friend’s house along with a note on her phone saying: ‘I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me.’
Wellings was found not guilty of manslaughter, but guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour following a trial at Preston Crown Court.
Jurors were shown Kiena’s note, which read: ‘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 didn’t deserve it.
‘I hope my life saves another by police services acting faster. Don’t let bullies live free.’
To her daughter, she added: ‘I’m sorry I let you go… I’m so sorry I had to go.
‘The world turned their back on me. I was strong. I had dreams. I had a future at one point. That was taken away from me.’
Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told them the heartbreaking note represented a summary of his case.
‘The suicide note represents her account, from beyond the grave, of why she decided to take her own life,’ he said.
‘Because of what he had done, because of his crimes, she saw no way out and it was reasonably foreseeable that would be the outcome if he behaved in that way.
‘Kiena killed herself when she did because of the defendant’s unlawful acts. Because he assaulted and abused her. Because he acted in a way that was controlling and coercive.’
The court heard Kiena had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD), resulting in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships.
Mr Greaney said Wellings exploited Kiena’s fragile mental health and used violence to ‘grind’ her down, leading to her taking the decision to kill herself.
But Wellings’s barrister John Jones KC told jurors Kiena was a ‘troubled’ woman, whose decision to kill herself was the result of ‘multiple factors’.
They called medical evidence, detailing her medical notes and mental health history, citing problems from the age of 13, with frequent visits to hospital, drug and alcohol use, thoughts of suicide and attempts at taking her own life before and after she met Wellings.
She had been due to see another psychiatrist for assessment three days before she died but it is not clear if she was informed of the appointment so did not attend, the court heard.
The barrister said the couple’s ‘party lifestyle’ of alcohol and drugs was a ‘recipe for disaster’.
He said their ‘fairytale’ relationship was to end in turmoil because of Wellings’ temper and Ms Dawes’ mental health difficulties – and their liking for cocaine.
Mr Jones told the jury: ‘This corrosive and destructive combination was to bring heartache to them both, and death to one.
‘It was a recipe for disaster. Mental health on one side, drug abuse and temper on the other. We know that. They did not know or appreciate it at the time, that’s the point.
‘You must determine what caused that death. We say it was not caused in any significant degree by Ryan Wellings.’
Jurors were told she first met Wellings in January 2020. His abuse started almost immediately.
One of Kiena’s friends described visiting her flat in May of that year and finding it smashed up. She said her friend told her Wellings had tried to strangle her with an iPhone charger cable.
He later accused Kiena of sleeping with a friend of theirs, calling her a ‘slag’, hurling a stool at her and telling her to kill herself.
Wellings gave her a black eye when she was six months pregnant with their child in July 2021 because he didn’t like the type of shower gel she had bought.
She tried to report the assault to police but before officers arrived, Wellings told her the baby would be taken from her. He then insisted to them that it was merely a verbal spat.
By the end of that year Kiena told a friend Wellings had got a drill and ‘put it in my face and told me he would drill my teeth out of my mouth’.
She told another he had threatened to ‘throw acid in my face’ over an Instagram story she had posted, adding: ‘His words were “You know Ferne McCann? What her boyfriend did? Remember I’ll do the same. I’ll throw acid in your face and watch it burn.
‘He said no one would ever want to look at stretch marks from pregnancy on my hips. I’m a disgusting fat bitch. That’s because I saw him on dating sites.’
After their daughter was born, Wellings attacked Kiena while she was bathing the infant, grabbing her by the hair and shoving her face in the water saying: ‘Say goodbye to your baby.’
Timeline of abuse suffered by Kiena Dawes: ‘Fairy tale turned to nightmare’
Kiena Dawes said her relationship with Ryan Wellings turned from ‘fairy tale to nightmare’.
Here is a timeline of the two years of abuse she suffered:
– January 26, 2020 – Kiena is introduced to father-of-two Wellings by her brother and an ‘intense’ relationship begins. He has tattoos of her face and name within a week of meeting.
– February 25, 2020 – the first hint of trouble, Kiena sends him a message, saying: ‘Stop hurting me now xxxx.’
– April 3, 2020 – Wellings proposes. She agrees.
– May 3, 2020 – Wellings, in drink, becomes jealous and angry and attempts to strangle Kiena with an iPhone charger cable, leaving her bruised and badly shaken up.
– May 29, 2020 – Wellings accuses Kiena of cheating and throws a stool at her, screaming she is a ‘slag’ and telling her to kill herself. He throws Ms Dawes to the ground and she cuts her foot on broken glass. He later apologises.
– July 20 2020 – Kiena’s father, Russell Dawes, who she is very close to, dies suddenly.
– August 28, 2020 – Ms Dawes sends text messages to Wellings saying: “You’ve f****** terrorised me… You’re a bully.”
– Christmas 2020 – Kiena tells Wellings she is leaving him. She is ‘ragged around’ by her hair and he demands money from her. Her mother tells Kiena to call police but she makes up with Wellings the next day.
– February 2021 – Kiena becomes pregnant. Wellings begins calling her ‘fat’ and starts talking to prostitutes and escorts online. She has to stop taking medication and her mental health condition deteriorates.
– February 20, 2021 – Kiena is admitted to a mental hospital for three weeks feeling suicidal. Wellings tells her no one believes her complaints about him due to her mental issues and her unborn child would be taken from her.
– April 17, 2021 – Kiena kicks Wellings out of her flat because he was cheating. Wellings threatens to torch her car, updates his Facebook profile to show him sitting in a car, smiling and holding a lighter.
– May 8, 2021 – Wellings smashes up the home-made shrine of candles and a photo Kiena had made of her late father. He threatens to flush her father’s ashes down the toilet.
– July 5, 2021 – Kiena, six months pregnant, is given a black eye by Wellings. She rang the police but before they arrive he tells her they will take their unborn child off them. When officers arrive she tells them it was just a verbal argument. Wellings apologises and promises not to do it again.
– August 2, 2021 – Kiena sends a WhatsApp to Wellings of some of the things he has said to her: ‘You think your life is hell now, when the baby gets here I’ll make it f****** hell… You’re a fat little bitch. Your (family) are dossers. You’ve got a shit life. No one loves you. Stop f****** crying.’
– August 4, 2021 – Kiena calls police for a second time, saying the couple had split but Wellings was trying to take her property from their flat. She tells officers Wellings had assaulted her in the past.
– September 23, 2021 – Kiena sends Wellings a message, ‘You’ve raised your fist to me twice this week… You’ll never change.’
– October 13, 2021 – Ms Dawes gives birth to their daughter.
– November 21, 2021 – Kiena’s mother Angela calls 999 saying Wellings was refusing to leave their flat, with Ms Dawes complaining he was ‘terrorising’ her.
– Christmas 2021 – During a row Wellings turns his cordless drill on and puts it to Ms Dawes’s face, threatening to drill her teeth out.
– January 4, 2022 – Kiena calls the National Domestic Abuse Helpline reporting abuse and violence from Wellings.
– March 11, 2022 – Kiena is bathing their daughter and Wellings grabs her head and dunks it in the baby bath, threatening to drown her.
– March 15, 2022 – Kiena makes her first witness statement to police after calling 999, reporting domestic violence. Wellings is arrested on suspicion of assault. However she tells police she does not want to pursue a complaint and takes him back again.
– Police arrange for a panic alarm to be installed in Ms Dawes’s flat.
– June 13, 2022 – Wellings pushes Ms Dawes over the back of their sofa, grabs and hits her after she answered Wellings back, which ‘triggers his anger’.
– July 4, 2022 – Kiena drives into the back of a car, telling paramedics, she forgot she was on the road and was thinking about taking her own life and that she needs help.
– July 11, 2022 – Covered in blood, Kiena calls 999 reporting Wellings had ‘launched’ her into a bathroom radiator knocking it from a wall and slammed a door in her face, knocking her out and cutting her head. She is treated in hospital for her injuries. Wellings is arrested and bailed not to contact Ms Dawes.
– July 17, 2022 – Wellings calls Kiena in the early hours of the morning with threats. She reports this to police but it is not treated as a breach of bail, leaving her feeling ‘unsupported’.
– July 22, 2022 – Kiena is killed on a railway line. She had left her daughter with a friend along with a suicide note saying, ‘Ryan Wellings killed me’.
Kiena’s mum Angela Dawes told jurors her daughter was ‘swept off her feet’ after Wellings had a tattoo of her name on his neck within days of meeting her in January 2020, followed by a portrait of her face on his leg.
And within three months, he had proposed marriage which she accepted.
Mrs Dawes told the jury: “She was a young girl, I think she felt she was swept off her feet.
“I fear that Kiena thought this was romantic and the fairy tale she wanted.”
But soon Mrs Dawes said she became aware Wellings had allegedly attacked her daughter for the first time.
Mrs Dawes told jurors: ‘I said to Ryan, “You hurt my baby, my daughter”.
‘I said to him, “Look at her? How can you hurt her?” He said, “I’m sorry. I’ll get help”.
‘I told her to run a mile. I said, “That’s not OK”.’
But Mrs Dawes told the jury the violence continued.
She described another incident when Wellings wanted money from Kiena.
Mrs Dawes said: ‘There’s been so many incidents it’s hard to remember the specifics. He wanted to get money out of her account, £50.
‘He dragged her by the hair to the floor. He dragged her around like a ragdoll. He was controlling her by then.
‘Her whole life revolved around Ryan. Everything. She had to do everything that Ryan said. All the time.
‘It had to be done to Ryan’s instructions. She had to do things at a set time because that’s what Ryan told her to do.
‘She would set time on her phone. She had to pick him up, he didn’t drive.
‘She would have to take him wherever he wanted to go. Anything that Ryan needed, Kiena had to do it for him.’
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