Kiena Dawes was 'failed' after her 'monstrous' partner was cleared of manslaughter over her suicide, victims of domestic violence say - as one bereaved mother claims jury 'didn't understand' devastating abuse
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Women whose lives have been destroyed by abusive men have slammed the judicial system after Ryan Wellings was cleared of manslaughter following his partner's suicide after he subjected her to a disgusting campaign of abuse. Kiena Dawes, 23, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, took her own life after enduring more than two years of horrific domestic abuse at the hands of Wellings, whose fate was decided at Preston Crown Court on Monday.
![[Sharon Holland's 23-year-old daughter Chloe (pictured together) took her own life in February 2023 after enduring months of physical and psychological abuse from her partner]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/00/94058421-14279799-image-m-56_1736812885253.jpg)
Although cleared of manslaughter, Wellings was convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour for the terrifying abuse he inflicted upon Kiena. The first defendant to be tried for unlawful killing of his partner who died by suicide following domestic abuse, Wellings egregiously blew a kiss to his current girlfriend from the dock after being found not guilty over Kiena's death - at which point Kiena's sister burst into tears.
![[Marc Masterton, 26, who controlled Chloe's appearance, isolated her from her friends and family and even encouraged her to kill herself, was sentenced to just 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour in October 2023]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/00/94058423-14279799-image-a-57_1736812914281.jpg)
The verdict has caused uproar among Kiena's loved ones, after the mother of a baby girl wrote in a heartbreaking suicide note: 'I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me.'. During the trial, jurors heard how Wellings repeatedly lash out at Kiena, a hairdresser, beating her while she was pregnant with his child, as well as threatening to drown her in a bath, drill her teeth and 'make her look like Katie Piper' by dousing her with acid.
![[On one occasion, Masterson assaulted Chloe with a dumbbell before handing her a knife and ordering her to harm herself]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/00/94058417-14279799-image-m-59_1736812924925.jpg)
The 30-year-old also urged Ms Dawes to kill herself, boasted that 'hitting you is like hitting a man' and, on one occasion, dunked her head in a bath and said: 'Say goodbye to your baby'. In one incident just 11 days before Ms Dawes' death, on July 11, 2022 he 'launched' her into a radiator with such force it broke the appliance off the wall, then slammed a door in her face - knocking her out and leaving her with blood pouring from her head.
![[But due to the severe psychological impact of what she endured, she took her own life. Sharon (pictured), 51, from Portsmouth, spoke to FEMAIL shortly after Masterson's sentencing to raise awareness of domestic abuse]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/14/00/94058419-14279799-image-a-61_1736812948222.jpg)
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