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By Jamie Roberton and Frances Read
A domestic abuser accused of driving a young mother to suicide has been cleared of her manslaughter.
Ryan Wellings was convicted of subjecting Kiena Dawes to prolonged domestic abuse and assault, but acquitted of the more serious charge.
It was the first time a defendant has been tried before a jury accused of unlawful killing of his partner following a domestic abuse-related suicide.
Kiena Dawes, 23, from Fleetwood, left her nine-month-old daughter in a car seat in her friend’s house in July 2022, alongside a note, saying: “I was murdered. Slowly. Ryan Wellings killed me.”
The hairdresser was later found dead on a railway line in Lancashire.
Dawes’ sister wept and her mother looked straight ahead as the defendant was cleared of manslaughter in front of a packed courtroom.
Wellings smiled and blew a kiss to his current girlfriend in the public gallery as he was led away.
A campaign of abuse
Wellings launched a prolonged campaign of abuse against Dawes almost immediately from the outset of their ”intense relationship” in 2020, the court heard.
The landscape gardener had Dawes’ name and face tattooed on his body within weeks and proposed inside three months, but he had soon “assaulted, bullied and demeaned” her.
Dawes had known mental health problems – including a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder – prior to meeting Wellings, but the prosecution said he “thoroughly and dreadfully exploited” her vulnerability.
The 23-year-old had told friends and the police of numerous violent attacks, including him strangling her with an iPhone charger cable, turning on a drill in her face and plunging her head into the bath that she had run for her daughter.
Distressing psychological attacks were also documented, with Wellings threatening to throw Dawes’ deceased father’s ashes out of the window and telling her to kill herself.
The abuser taunted his partner that she would never be believed because of her mental health condition and that any report against him would result in her daughter being taken away.
Wellings also told Dawes: “I’ll throw acid in your face and watch it burn”.
The young mother later disclosed to one friend that her “fairytale [had] turned into a nightmare”.
‘Why am I living life like this’
The aftermath of a final assault by Wellings 11 days before Dawes took her own life was played to the jury.
A bloodied Dawes is seen describing to police officers how Wellings smashed a door into her face, leaving her unconscious and waking up to her daughter’s screams.
Dawes is heard saying: “This is not how I ever want her [Kiena’s daughter] to grow up – I don’t know why I am living this life like this now”.
Wellings was arrested but was later accused of breaching his bail conditions by using his ex-girlfriend’s phone to call and threaten Dawes.
The lack of action from police in response to the apparent bail breach left Dawes feeling “let down”, the prosecution said.
The 23-year-old had referenced alleged police failings in her final note, writing: “I hope my life saves another by police services acting faster.”
Ms Dawes‘ brother Kynan told The Sun last May: “They let down Kiena in life.
“She felt the police weren’t doing anything to help her despite countless reports. Her attacker was constantly bailed and she ended up with nowhere to turn. She lost hope.”
Three Lancashire police officers are facing disciplinary action “relating to actions or omissions connected to Ms Dawes’s reports of domestic abuse” after an investigation by the watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
‘I’m sorry I let you go’
The note left by Dawes also addressed her daughter, Dawes writing: “I’m sorry I let you 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.”
She added in the note she hoped her daughter was “kept away from the monster who is called her dad”.
Within hours of being charged with manslaughter, a video was uploaded on Facebook which showed Wellings in a car swigging Prosecco, singing about the charge and blaming Dawes’ family for her death.
“What we see here is the real Ryan Wellings – Ryan Wellings the bully,” Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told the court.
Unprecedented trial
Only one defendant has been successfully prosecuted for manslaughter following a domestic abuse victim’s suicide.
In 2017, Nicholas Allen admitted to the manslaughter of his former partner Justene Reece, who prosecutors said was “skeletal” by the end of their relationship.
Wellings was the first to be tried by a jury on the charge.
Channel 4 News has covered the evolving link between domestic abuse and suicide, with a growing number of families refusing to accept that a victim’s decision to end their lives closes the route to justice.
A recent study found that the number of suspected victim suicides has overtaken intimate partner homicides for the first time, with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner describing it as “devastating” and a “public health issue”.
Kate Brown, the CPS national lead for domestic abuse, told Channel 4 News: “We are actively looking at a number of cases with a view to bringing prosecutions of a similar kind.
“Where there is evidence that your actions is a cause of the death of a victim where they have felt that they had to take their own life, we will prosecute”.
Dawes’ mother speaks out
Speaking outside court following the verdict, Angela Dawes, Kiena’s mother, said her daughter “brought so much love and kindness into the world into everyone who loved her.”
“I truly hope that no other young lady or child has to go through what he did to my daughter and her baby – I wish with all my heart I could bring her back and say ‘it’s ok, you’re safe now.’
“Although a manslaughter conviction has not been achieved today, the case and the convictions of controlling and coercive behaviour and assault clearly demonstrate that the perpetrators of domestic abuse will be held to account.”
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Fallows, of Lancashire Police, said: “Kiena Dawes was a devoted and loving mother who, despite her personal challenges, was determined to give her baby girl the best life she could.
“Ryan Wellings took Kiena’s love and in return launched a concerted campaign of emotional, mental and physical abuse. Over a two-and-a-half-year period, Wellings broke her spirit.
“He isolated Kiena, belittled and abused her, controlled her, subjected her to violence and made her believe that she would never escape him.”