Tragic Kiena Dawes is remembered by loved ones as a “bubbly” young mum who “just wanted to live a happy little life”. Heartbreakingly, the final years of Kiena’s short life were anything but, instead marked by pain, abuse and fear.
The 23-year-old hairdresser died by suicide in July 2022, leaving behind a harrowing note blaming her partner Ryan Wellings for her death, claiming she had been “tortured” until “there was nothing left”.
The trial heard how Wellings assaulted Kiena her while she was pregnant, and issued horrifying threats to drown her in a bath, drill her teeth and ‘make her look like Katie Piper’ by throwing acid on her face.
Today (January 13), at Preston Crown Court, Wellings was found not guilty of the manslaughter of Kiena. He has, however, been convicted of assault and controlling and coercive behaviour.
Wellings, who denied manslaughter, was the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of his partner following her suicide following a campaign of domestic violence.
Kiena’s devastated family urged her to leave her abusive boyfriend
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Only one other defendant in history has been convicted under such circumstances – Nicholas Allen, who confessed before his 2017 trial to the manslaughter of his partner, Justene Reece.
Here, the Mirror looks at Kiena’s nightmare life with a “monster” who “swept her off her feet”.
After meeting in January 2020, Kiena’s relationship with Wellings moved quickly, with Wellings tattooing her name on his face and body within the first few days of their courtship. Within three months, Wellings had proposed, with Kiena’s mother, Angela Dawes, recalling how her daughter had been “swept off her feet.”
Giving evidence on Dec 2, Angela told how she’d urged Kiena to “run a mile” after what initially appeared to be a “fairytale” romance turned into a “violent” relationship. According to Angela, Wellings attacked Kiena during an incident involving a glass table, which had smashed and injured her legs and feet.
Kiena’s worried mum Angela had urged her daughter to ‘run a mile’
Angela told the court: “He attacked her, and she ended up getting hurt by the table. I don’t know if he threw her on the table or the table ended up on her.” The bereaved mother later confronted Wellings when the couple visited her in Blackpool, telling him: “You hurt my baby.”
Angela also told of how she’d issued a warning to Kiena, remembering: “I told her to ‘run a mile’. He was controlling her. It was obvious her whole life revolved around Ryan.”
She added that Kiena “had to do everything” that Wellings wanted and that she “would always be under pressure to do things” for him.
The prosecution asserted that Wellings had taken advantage of Kiena, who suffered from serious mental health problems and who had made previous suicide attempts. Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC told the court how Kiena lived with a personality disorder that can lead to increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulties in relationships.
According to Mr Greaney, Wellings “exploited this vulnerability”. He said: “The predominant thrust of what Kiena was saying in her suicide note was that Ryan Wellings, the defendant in this trial, was responsible for her death. Kiena’s own words, ‘Ryan Wellings killed me’ represent the prosecution’s case, namely that the death of Kiena Dawes was caused by the unlawful acts of Ryan Wellings and that he is therefore guilty of her manslaughter.”
During Wellings’ manslaughter trial, the prosecution heard that his abuse was a “significant factor” in Kiena’s decision to die by suicide, with his last attack occurring just 11 days before her death. The court heard how, over the course of two and a half years, Kiena was assaulted by Wellings on multiple occasions, with police recovering notes she made of his abuse on her phone.
Mr Greaney told the jury that Welling’s abuse had begun early on in their on-off relationship, noting a “pattern” whereby Wellings behaved in an “aggressive and violent” way towards Kiena and “then apologised and showered her with affection”.
Wellings would reportedly try and excuse his behaviour by saying, “It was only a slap”, while making profuse apologies. All the while, Kiena’s loved ones urged her to “run a mile”.
Harrowing footage shows Kiena crying after an assault
During their time living together in Dorset, Wellings attempted to “strangle” Kiena with an iPhone charger, the court heard. In another incident, Wellings threw a stool at Kiena and also threw her to the ground, resulting in her slashing her foot on broken glass.
The abuse continued once the couple moved to Blackpool, and Kiena filed a police report after Wellings gave her a “black eye” while she was pregnant. Jurors also heard phone messages sent to Wellings by Kiena, who accused him of “terrorising” her. She’d written: “You’re a head f***, and you know it will ruin me” and “You’re a bully”. On one horrifying occasion, Wellings held her head under water in a bath and said: “Say goodbye to your baby”.
Witness Kurt Bradshaw, who was reportedly like a “big brother” to Kiena, told of how the mum-of-one had told him about an attack by Wellings but had “downplayed” it at the time, claiming “he didn’t do it and it was just a slap”.
After meeting on a night out in Blackpool, however, Kiena told Kurt that she was being abused by Wellings. Kurt told the court: “She said she was being hit and terrorised and wanted it all to stop.”
Wellings’ abuse of Kiena included regular slapping and “ragging” by her hair, as well as threats. Jurors were shown photos of Kiena’s injuries, including a cut to her head and a “black eye” sustained while she was heavily pregnant. The court also heard how, in one disturbing incident, Wellings held a drill to Kienna’s face before switching it on and threatening to “drill” her teeth out.
Kiena again broke up with Wellings, who responded with the following text: “Can we have sex with each other still? We just be sex buddies?”
The court also heard about messages sent by Kiena to a friend alleging that Wellings had threatened to attack her with acid. One message read: “He’s seen my story on Instagram. Said if I don’t delete it and speak to a lad he’ll throw acid in my face.
“His words were ‘You know Fearne 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 b***h. That’s because I saw him on dating sites.”
The court heard how Wellings threatened to make Kiena “look like Katie Piper” by throwing acid in her face, and would criticise her weight, calling her a “fat little b****” – all while contacting escorts and sex workers online.
Wellings was described by prosecutor Paul Greaney KC as an “entitled, aggressive bully” and by Kiena’s friends as a “horrible little b******” with a jealous streak. The court heard how Wellings did not like being answered back, which “triggers his anger”.
On top of this abuse, Wellings, who was unable to hold down work, sponged off Kiena, draining her money. While Kiena worked two jobs, Wellings secured and left 22 jobs. After taking out £15,000 in Covid loans during lockdown, he splashed the cash on hotels, £1,800 golf clubs and drugs.
A final assault ‘broke’ Kiena, who was left needing hospital treatment
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On more than one occasion, police officers were called, but Wellings threatened Kiena that she would have their daughter taken away if she told them what was going on, so she declined to help prosecute him, the trial heard.
A final assault “broke” Kiena, who was left needing hospital treatment. This time, Kiena did make a police statement, with this last assault said to be the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
Wellings was arrested on suspicion of assault and bailed on condition he not contact Kiena, directly or indirectly. However, after breaking his bail conditions, Wellings was not locked up – a move that is said to have left Kiena feeling let down by officers.
Just six days after his arrest, at 2.51am on July 17, Kiena received a missed call from the number Wellings’ ex-girlfriend, Kayleigh Anderson. When she rang back, Wellings was on the other end of the line, threatening her.
Kiena reported this to police as a breach of bail and sent screenshots of abusive texts from Wellings, which stated, “Why the f*** did you tell the police?”
However, as she told how she had rang Anderson’s number back following a missed call, the statement was abruptly stopped, with the officer concluding there had been no breach of bail. Kiena was also told by officers to take down a Facebook post, not naming Wellings, but detailing the domestic violence she had suffered This left Kiena feeling “unsupported” by police, and she was left upset that Wellings had not been “locked up”.
Four days later, she was dead. Now, three Lancashire Police officers will face disciplinary hearings.
A spokesperson for watchdogs, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), issued the following statement: “Our investigation into the contact between Lancashire Constabulary and Kiena Dawes, before her death is complete.
“We examined the police response to Miss Dawes being reported missing, as well as the police response to earlier reports that she had been the victim of assaults.
“Following the conclusion of our investigation in July 2023, we found one officer had a case to answer for gross misconduct and two officers had a case to answer for misconduct relating to actions or omissions connected to Ms Dawes’s reports of domestic abuse.
“We found no case to answer for a fourth officer who was under investigation for potential misconduct. It is for Lancashire Constabulary to arrange police disciplinary hearings which will determine the outcome.
“Our thoughts remain with Miss Dawes’ loved ones and all those affected by her death.”
Wellings told jurors ‘I’m not a monster’
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Kiena blamed Wellings for her death ‘from beyond the grave’
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Wellings has claimed Kiena’s accusations against him were either untrue or exaggerated, stating that her injuries were a result of his attempts to restrain her or were accidental.
The defendant told jurors, “I’m not a monster”, but did admit to getting “heavy-handed” with Kiena.
In her suicide note, which she wrote on her phone, Kiena said: “The end. I fought hard, I fought long. I went through pain no one could imagine. No one will know what I went through.
“I was murdered. Slowly. They tortured me, till there was nothing left. I lost my fight but I didn’t give up my battle. I fought till the end. Ryan Wellings killed me.” The note also said: “I hope my life saves another by police services acting faster” and that she wanted her daughter “kept away from the monster who is called her dad.”
Kiena’s devastated family have claimed she had been living in fear. Photographs showing Kiena looking bloodied and bruised were taken after police fitted panic alarms in her home.
Speaking after her death, Kiena’s elder brother Kynan said that the force fitted her home with a panic alarm and had also given her a special necklace with a button she could press for help. However, Kynan claimed this hadn’t prevented Kiena’s attacker from going to her home and splitting her head open, leaving her “completely traumatised”.
Asserting that the police should have done more to help Kiena as she tried to bring her attacker to court, Kynan said at the time: “The police have let my sister down, they have. She wanted to go through the legal route to get justice. The girl is dead now, but it should have gone to CPS ages ago. She didn’t want to live a life the way she was living, so she ended it.
“They did not do enough. The head of CID is going to go through everything with a toothpick. They’re going to find out why nothing happened, and why it got to the point where she felt she wasn’t being looked after by the service, which she should be, and decided to take her life.”
He continued: “The girl was very, very well loved. She never said a bad word about anybody. She just wanted to live a happy little life.”
Addressing criticism at the time, a Lancashire Police spokesperson said: “First and foremost, our thoughts are with Kiena Dawes’ loved ones at this difficult time. We referred ourselves to the IOPC in July 2022 in relation to contact we had with Kiena before her death.
“The IOPC are currently conducting an independent investigation, and as this remains ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”
If you’re finding things tough and need someone to talk to, the Samaritans are always there. You can call their free helpline at any time on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit their website to find your nearest branch.
Kiena Dawes’ boyfriend showed affection ‘for show’ before she took own life, friend says