Ryan Wellings, 30, faced judgment in a Preston courtroom in a case that has held the nation’s attention.
The proceedings heard of an alarming pattern of coercive control, threats and violence towards his partner, Kiena Dawes, during the course of two fraught years.
Threats were made by Wellings on Dawes to disfigure her and sinister comments were made about physically harming Dawes, court some of the testimony showed.
She had also been physically assaulted by him, injuries she bore physically and that her mental scars never fully healed from.
The hallmark of coercive control was that Wellings manipulated Dawes into believing that she was to blame for her suffering, the court heard.
It was too traumatic a narrative for Dawes, 23, to have to bear, and she made it known as much when she posted a note on July 22, 2022, directly blaming Wellings for her death.
The note said, I was destroyed. Ryan Wellings ruined me. He took all that strength I was trying to keep for myself. I had dreams. I had a future at one point. That was taken away from me.”
Two days before her death, Dawes left her nine month old daughter in the care of a friend before ending her life.
A poignant part of this devastating story is the fight the daughter is shouldering to maintain custody of her daughter, showing the far reaching effects of domestic abuse.
The case has brought into focus systemic failings to respond to reports of domestic violence.
Three Lancashire police officers face disciplinary proceedings after criticisms of how the force handled Dawes’s reports.
Calls for reform have been fuelled by inadequacy of the response and the difficulty of victims to achieve timely and effective support.
Wellings’s trial broke legal ground as the first in the UK for which a defendant has been charged with unlawful harm for the tragic death of a victim of domestic abuse.
But on January 15, 2025, six weeks after the start of Wellings’s trial at Preston Crown Court, the jury acquitted him of this charge.
Though he was acquitted, the court convicted him of assault and coercive control, eventually sentencing him.
In the last moments of the trial, Judge Altham said he did not regard Wellings’ behavior in a good light.
‘You abused, demeaned, and belittled her starting in May 2020,’ the message read. It was plain by the time she died your lies she believed,” the judge said.
Wellings was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for his crimes on January 16.
He was given four years for coercive behaviour and two for a separate assault, and six months more for another incident of violence.
Those close to the victim and observers were further outraged when Wellings reportedly smiled as he left the dock.
Angela Dawes, Kiena’s mother, spoke of her daughter as the “sweetest, kindest, and gentlest person.”
In an emotional statement, she said: “I just wish with all my heart that I could bring her back and say, it’s OK, you’re safe now.”
It is a tragic case which serves to show the urgency for systemic improvements in approaching domestic abuse and safeguarding vulnerable people.
This is a somber landmark case; one that should remind the community of what unchecked abuse can do.
It is a cry to mobilize as to see that none other family goes through this heartbreak.
Feature Image Credit: (Lancashire Police)