Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Thursday 16th January 2025, at 16:05hrs
Kiena Dawes 23 was a loving mum who’s spirit was dampened at the hands of wellings the court heard
A man who was found guilty of coercive control and assault against his girlfriend Kiena Dawes before she went on to commit suicide has been jailed.
Wellings was also sentenced for a separate assault on his friend.
Landscape gardener Ryan Wellings, 30 from Bispham, Lancashire, went on trial charged with Kienas manslaughter. However, was found not guilty after a seven week trial at Preston Crown Court. The jury found him guilty of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour.
Attending Preston Crown Court today, Kienas family made victim impact statements to the court.
Her brother Kynan Dawes said:
“I want to provide this statement to explain how this whole situation and what happened to Kiena has made me feel and what a huge impact it has had on my life. It has left me with diagnosed anxiety, depression and PTSD.
I’ve no idea why but I blame myself for what has happened to my sister. I introduced Kiena to this monster, and I will regret that for the rest of my life. I shouldn’t as a brother be blaming myself for someone else’s actions, but I do wish I had put a stop to the relationship and what was happening to Kiena.
I find it personally disgusting that men hit women, and I hope that the sentence Wellings receives shows people worldwide why this behaviour is not OK. People need to start realising you can’t go round hurting the people you are supposed to love.
My feelings around what happened to Kiena have been made worse by the fact that Wellings has showed absolutely no remorse for how he treated her. To be honest though this does not shock me. He said he loved her and claimed that he never did anything wrong.
However, afterwards all he did was go into protection mode and hide because he knew exactly what he had done. At least now he can spend the rest of his life being viewed as an abuser and person who beats up women.
I want to acknowledge the people who have followed this case online, on the news and in the papers. I want people to see that domestic violence is not OK and men should respect their partners by showing them nothing but love and kindness. I also want to say to the people who may be suffering domestic violence to seek help and remove yourself from the situation. Go the Police or if you don’t feel you can do this speak to family or friends.
I want to thank the Police Officers and anyone involved in getting together all the evidence and witness statements that made this trial possible. I appreciate it’s been a long, hard two and a half years work for you all and I could not be more grateful for the effort that has been put in.
I would also like to thank the jury for the long six and a half weeks they have sat in on this case and for being open minded and understanding of what my sister Kiena went through. I just want to show my full respect that you as a group of individuals who never knew my sister Kiena believed what she said, and you have found this disgusting thing of a person guilty.
I do feel that justice has been served. Kiena wanted Ryan Wellings to be held responsible for what he put her through and, perhaps more importantly, the world now knows what a monster he is. That’s sufficient enough for me and hopefully for Kiena too. Kiena, I love you. I’ll miss you every second until we meet again”
Kiena’s grandma Irene Ball said:
“I am the very proud grandma of Kiena Dawes. In this statement I wish to not only outline the impact that this case has had on me but I also want to tell you about Kiena.
Kiena was a very beautiful, kind and happy girl. She was one of my five grandchildren and her daughter is my great grandchild. I was extremely close to Kiena and she meant the world to me. Kiena was a really good hairdresser and she would often come to my house to do my hair. She also came to my house twice a week for her tea. I always really looked forward to those visits.
All Kiena wanted out of life was to be happy. I became aware she was in a relation with Ryan Wellings. I didn’t know him very well and only met him a few times. It was obvious to me that throughout this relationship there were good times but also some very sad times. Kiena had the most beautiful smile, a smile I will never forget. However, during her relationship with Ryan Wellings I could sometimes see beyond her smile. I noticed the times when her smile was false but she also tried to reassure me by saying: “I’m okay grandma.”
Kiena wasn’t okay but she was selfless. She kept a lot of her anguish to herself and I know she did this to protect me.
Kiena was protective over me so she didn’t go into great detail with me about her relationship with Ryan Wellings, but there were times that she did open up to me about the issues with him. Hearing about these issues hurt and upset me. During their relationship she told me that Ryan Wellings had hurt her and she had also told me about the incident involving the drill. I was absolutely horrified
She was my granddaughter and I loved her and the thought of someone treating her this way is simply too much the bear. She told me about their arguments and she told me in enough detail for me to be really concerned. I told Kiena that he would really badly hurt her one day and I pleaded with her not to go back to him. I asked her what she was waiting for. She always went back to him because all she wanted was to be happy.
I told Kiena that he would really badly hurt her one day and I pleaded with her not to go back to him. I asked her what she was waiting for. She always went back to him because all she wanted was to be happy.
On 11th July 2022 Kiena called me and asked me where I was. She told me there had been another incident with Ryan, that he had really hurt her, she was bleeding and there was an ambulance on the way. She apologised to me and asked me to have her daughter whilst she went up to hospital for treatment. Her mum, Angela, was going to hospital with her. Of course I agreed to this and the police brought Marnie to me. I know the fact that the police came to my house with her daughter really upset Kiena, she felt really guilty about that, again thinking more about the impact on me than herself.
On her return from hospital I saw the extent of Kiena’s injuries. It was extremely shocking to see my granddaughter hurt and with injuries to her beautiful face. The way she looked on that day is an image I will never forget and it shocked me.
I have sat and listened to the evidence throughout the trial and have been sickened by what I have both seen and heard – the witness evidence, text messages, photographs and the videos. Hearing what Kiena has been subjected to by Ryan Wellings distressed me that much I have sobbed. I often do this privately as I need to be strong for Angela and the rest of family.
I am absolutely broken-hearted that we have lost Kiena and I feel doubly heartbroken because every single day I see my own daughter Angela and the pain she is suffering as aresult of losing Kiena. She has lost her child and to watch my own child going through this is simply unbearable. I can’t fix this or make it better. I simply have to be there. Angela has been through so much to seek justice for Kiena and I worry about the impact this has had on her.
It also breaks my heart that Kiena’s daughter will grow up without her mummy.
She has Kiena’s smile and whenever I see it I get a lump in my throat as it’s like Kiena’s smile is still with us. Kiena was loved by all of her family and friends and I will forever remember the good times.
Her death is a huge loss and she will never be forgotten. I just want to tell you Kiena that I love you so much and always will…but you already know that.”
Kienas’s mother, Angela Dawes, said:
“I have found it almost impossible to put into words just how big of an impact losing Kiena has been. On all her family, her beautiful baby girl and all her friends.
Kiena was a rare gem. She brought so much love and kindness to this world and to everyone who loved her, she was an extremely beautiful girl, and was quite truly the sweetest kindest and gentlest person I have ever known.
Kiena is missed so much every second of every day. Her baby girl was brought to my home a few hours after Kiena was found, and has been in my full time care ever since that tragic day, and I honestly cannot put into words just how much it breaks my heart that her beautiful baby doesn’t have her Mummy here because of that monster.
I’ll never forget the day when three CID officers came to my house shortly after I lost Kiena. And I simply said “Ryan Wellings killed my baby” and I will fight for her justice.
I truly hope that no other young lady or child has to go through what he did to my daughter and her baby. I just wish with all my heart that I could bring her back and say “It is okay, you’re safe now”
I have been robbed of watching my daughter live her life, and her baby girl have her Mummy. I will never get to hold any other children that Kiena may have had in the future or watch Kiena live her life as she should have.
As her daughter grows into a young lady herself, she has been robbed herself of a Mum to go to, or when she has children herself, her own mother to turn to, but I will step into this role for Kiena.
I will never be able to live a normal life due to the coercive and controlling behaviour and assaults that Kiena suffered.
I am worried about the long-term impact of that on her daughter and me through a period of getting her used to men again after she came into my care. I truly believe that a baby should feel safe in their own home, and that this abuse will be life-long lasting for her daughter, as much as her Mummy tried to keep her safe.
There were times when Kiena had to flee the house with her daughter because of Welling’s behaviour.
Another example is that her daughter has already asked me where her Mummy is. I have found it impossible to answer that question.
In terms of my own health, the impact has been significant. In the early days after Kiena’s death, I struggled to function or eat properly. I can still recall now the first time that I left the house with her daughter after she came into my care, I had social anxiety and was fearful of going out and seeing people, it was a huge deal to initially leave the house
I have been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety for which I am supported by my doctor. I have also suffered from frequent nightmares, flash backs to Kiena lying on a train line, and find that simple things like a television programme may trigger memories, due to the story lines or content they may have.
Prior to the July 2022, I worked and I had actually confided in a couple of colleagues about the impact of the domestic abuse on Kiena. I did not return to work after the 11th of July 2022, when Kiena was last assaulted by Wellings.
I was told that day that I wouldn’t get paid, as it wasn’t me that was injured. Prior to this at work, I always made sure that I had my phone with me should Kiena need me and I was always checking my phone in case Kiena had rang or messaged me.
I feel like I have lived Kiena’s domestic abuse with her, and what I mean by this is that I was her main source of support, and I experienced the full range of emotions that Kiena had to go through with her. I was so scared of saying the wrong thing to Kiena, as I needed her to know that she could come to me anytime and I didn’t want her to close up. There were times that I would find out that things had happened a couple of days afterwards, such as the black eye in July 2021, and I know that sometimes Kiena tried to protect me by not saying things.
As a mother, you do everything that you can to help your child and I have had to live through watching my daughter tell me that she was terrified and trapped, and when she said these things, it literally took my breath away, as I didn’t know how to help, I felt helpless.
After an incident with Wellings, Kiena would come to be safe and stay with me, I can only explain that I would see a light coming back on, and that she would get some strength, but Wellings always found a way to take back control and take her strength away.
It is heart wrenching to see your child hurt from anything, even by accident, but seeing your daughter hurt by someone else is sickening. Kiena always took my advice, and she always asked for help and she tried to do the right thing.
I have moved home so that I can not only have space and a comfortable home for Marnie, but also initially I lived by a train track which I could just not continue with. Kiena was my best friend and I have struggled to do the things that we used to do together, for example we would often go for tea together.
Wellings has never admitted to the awful acts he committed against my daughter. I have had to sit through an almost 6 week trial and watch the private life of my daughter pulled apart and her mental health scrutinised and assessed. She has been violated. There is no other word for it
It has also been extremely traumatic for me to see Kiena so upset talking to Police officers and to look back retrospectively at her so helpless in life and reaching out for help, knowing what ultimately happened to her. Watching videos of her crying and upset whilst also pregnant or cuddling her baby has been horrific. It is hard enough to watch videos of her having fun and laughing. Ryan Wellings has put me through all that. He could have pleaded to the offences and we would never have faced all that, with the eyes of the public on us all. This has been a trauma in itself.
Whenever Wellings is released from prison, I will be extremely concerned that he will do this again, he is a dangerous man. I am at a loss as to consider what impact him being released from prison will have on other women and children.
What my future holds now is being strong enough to raise her daughter. I cannot accept what has happened to Kiena and that as a result of this, she is not here. I have been robbed of my daughter.”
Sentencing Judge Honorary Recorder Robert Altham said:
“You are to be sentenced on conviction for coercive control of Kiena from January 2020 to July 2022 and ABH on July 11, 2022. You are also to be sentenced upon your plea for the assault on Scott Fletcher in August 2023. There is no prospect of a sentence other than immediate custody.
I remind myself I must be satisfied with the factual basis on which I sentence, and those findings are consistent with the jury verdict.
Kiena Dawes was a popular vivacious friendly and kind young woman. Those facts were in no way diminished by the fact she along with many others, had mental health problems, and she was vulnerable to abuse.
You were affectionate when the relationship began, but in May 2020, you threw her onto a table and threw her into broken glass such that she cut her foot. From then on, there was a pattern of affection followed by abuse. The next incident happened at the home of your ex when you dragged Kiena to the floor by her hair.
In 2021, you pushed her into a wadrobe. On July 5, while she was pregnant with your daughter, you slapped her and gave her a black eye. In evidence, you said you were defending yourself, but in light of your apology by text, I’m sure you attacked her.
On the next occasion, you pushed her head into the baby bath and told her to say bye to her daughter. That night, she tried to jump from the window and bruised her legs. In other incidents, you repeatedly hit her.
On December 28, 2021, you turned your electric drill in her face and threatened to drill her teeth out. She fled the flat with her daughter and took refuge with a friend.
You repeatedly threatened her with acid attacks, referencing well-known cases in the media. Knowing her mental health, you repeatedly told her she may as well kill herself.
You persuaded her if she called the police her baby would be taken. You persuaded her she was an unfit mother and her family and friends no longer cared about her. You told her she was nothing without you.
You called her dead father terrible names and threatened to flush his ashes down the toilet. You used his aftershave, which she kept as the smell reminded her of him, knowing it would upset her.
You threatened her such that she had to move her car. You separated her from friends. When she went shopping with the sister of her ex-boyfriend, they walked separately, just in case you saw her with someone connected with her ex.
You told her her dead father would be ashamed of her. You tried to persuade her she was incompetent with her work, which she took pride in.
On July 4, she suffered a crisis, and you appeared to be supportive, but on the 11th, you assaulted her at your flat in front of her daughter. By this time, she had an emergency alarm from the police but you persuaded her to keep the control in the car.
That day, she was tidying up for a landlord inspection. She tidied your sandpaper and you kicked the hoover which she had recently bought as you had sold her last one to buy cocaine. She triggered the alarm by pulling it from the wall.
As you left, you kicked the door into her. She came around to her baby daughter, looking at her, which played on her mind.
She told friends she could no longe bear to be in the flat where it happened. She was haunted by the memory of her daughter looking at her while she was bleeding on the floor. She started to look for a new home, but on July 22, she dropped her daughter at a friends in a child seat.
She left a suicide note saying things about a number of people, including calling you a monster and saying Ryan Wellings killed me.
The jury aquitted you of her manslaughter so I must sentence you on the basis you have no criminal responsibility for her death howveer from May 2020 you abused demeaned and belittled her and by the time she died it was plain she believed your lies. None of it was true.
Everyone who knew and cared for her regarded her as a truly wonderful person. We heard from family, friends, and clients in the trial who spoke warmly of her.
The overwhelming evidence is that you persuaded her that everything was her fault wven when you beat her. You said you did everything you could to help with her mental health problems and never assaulted her.
I reject the view that Kiena had any power in this relationship.
Count two (ABH) was not spontaneous. Earlier, the radiator was pulled from the wall in an attack. The control for the alarm was kept in the car.
You have shown no remorse. You lack insight. Though an extended determinate sentence is not available in this case, you are a clear danger.
Much of what Kiena’s family say is about the loss of her, but they also speak of the effect of your coercive control.
By the time you assaulted Mr Fletcher, you were on bail for the attacks on Kiena. Mr Fletcher reminded you that you owed money for the taxi. Drunk, you punched him twice.
He said he didn’t feel he could attend customers’ homes with a black eye because of the impression it would cause and lost money.
You have a conviction for assaulting your ex as she drove you home from a night of drinking and taking cocaine.
Offending in a domestic context is more serious because it represents a violation of the trust in an intimate or family relationship.
Every higher culpability factor exists. The offence is aggravated by your record. The fact much was committed while under the influence of cocaine.
The ABH is aggravated by being committed in a domestic setting. You left Ms. Dawes was unconscious on the floor and ignored her pleas for help. It is a seriously aggravating factor that this was committed in front of her daughter. She was vulnerable due to her mental health problems.
You were on bail and intoxicated at the time of the offence against Mr Fletcher.
I will pass consecutive sentences for the offences against Ms Dawes. Your overall criminality can not sufficiently be represented by concurrent sentences. The sentence in relation to Scottt Fletcher must attract a consecutive sentence.
For coercive control four years, ABH two years, and a further six months for the offence against Scott Fletcher.
You will serve half the sentence and be released on licence with conditions. Go with the officer. Wellings has now been taken to start his sentence. He has shown no emotion throughout today’s hearing.”
DCI Andy Fallows, of Lancashire Police, said:
“My thoughts today are with Kiena and the Dawes family in what has been another extremely challenging day for them. Listening to the harrowing victim impact statements read out in court, it is clear how truly loved Kiena was and how much she continues to be missed.
“While I am satisfied Ryan Wellings has been given a custodial sentence for his abhorrent, sustained and cowardly conduct towards Kiena, I know no sentence will ever be enough for the Dawes family.
“While lessons will undoubtedly be learned from this case, I want to take this opportunity to appeal directly to anyone who finds themself in an abusive relationship or knows or suspects someone else might be. Please make contact with the authorities or reach out to domestic abuse organisations for help and support. You are not alone and there is help out there for you.”
If you or someone you know has been the victim of a crime report it online via https://doitonline.lancashire.police.uk/ or call 101. In an emergency, always call 999.
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