A violent and controlling “monster” who subjected his late partner, Kiena Dawes, to repeated assaults, bullying and belittling has been jailed for six and a half years.
Ryan Wellings, 30, was on Monday found guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour by a jury at Preston crown court.
His victim for two years was 23-year-old Dawes, who took her own life, blaming Wellings from “beyond the grave” for her death. The same jury found him not guilty of manslaughter.
On Thursday, the honorary recorder of Preston, Judge Altham, jailed Wellings, a man described by the prosecution as an “entitled, aggressive bully” and by Dawes’ friends as a “horrible little bastard” with a jealous streak who did not like being answered back to.
Dawes, a hairdresser from Fleetwood, Lancashire, was described during the six-week trial as “bright and popular”, “almost universally loved”, and someone who went from being “a happy-go-lucky girl to frightened all the time”.
She took her own life on 22 July 2022 after leaving the nine-month-old baby she had with Wellings at a friend’s house.
Dawes left a suicide note on her phone in which she said: “I fought hard. I fought long. I went through pain no one could imagine … I was murdered. Slowly … Ryan Wellings killed me.”
Wellings was the first person to have faced a jury accused of the unlawful killing of a partner who took their own life after domestic abuse.
Dawes had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder, an illness which resulted in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships. It was a vulnerability which, the prosecution argued, was “thoroughly and dreadfully” exploited by Wellings.
She had attempted to take her own life in the past, before her relationship with Wellings.
Defence barrister John Jones KC said Dawes had been a “very troubled young lady” with a history of mental health problems and suicide attempts. He said Dawes’ suicide was due to “multiple” factors.
Her mother, Angela Dawes, described Wellings as a “monster”. She said her daughter was the “sweetest, kindest and gentlest person”, adding: “I truly hope no other young lady or child has to go through what he did to my daughter and her baby and I just wish with all my heart that I could bring her back and say: ‘It’s OK, you’re safe now.’”
Wellings, a landscape gardener from Bispham, Lancashire, has a previous conviction for battering a former partner, the mother of his twin girls.
His abuse of Dawes included regular slapping and “ragging” by her hair, an attempt to strangle her with an iPhone charger, and threats to throw acid in her face and to use a drill to take out her teeth.
After Dawes became pregnant, Wellings gave her a black eye and began criticising her weight, calling her a “fat little bitch” while contacting escorts and sex workers online.
More than once, police were called to the family home but Wellings threatened Dawes that she would have their daughter taken off them if she told them what was happening, so she declined to help prosecute him.
A final assault “broke” Dawes, leaving her needing hospital treatment. This time she made a statement to police and Wellings was arrested.
He then broke his bail conditions but was not locked up, leaving Dawes feeling let down by police. Four days later she took her own life.
Three Lancashire police officers are facing disciplinary hearings over the case.