Man cleared over suicide of partner who suffered years of abuse
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A man has been found guilty of assault and prolonged domestic violence towards his partner, but cleared of her manslaughter. Kiena Dawes, 23, had written a suicide note saying, “Ryan Wellings killed me”, before leaving their nine-month-old daughter with a friend and taking her own life on a railway line on July 22, 2022.
Wellings, 30, had denied manslaughter but became the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of his partner after her suicide following domestic violence. Only one other defendant has been convicted in such circumstances before, Nicholas Allen, who admitted before his trial in 2017 the manslaughter of his partner, Justene Reece.
From 2020-2023, 723 domestic abuse-related deaths were identified by police in England and Wales, of which 216 were suspected victim suicides, one study found. Ms Dawes’ suicide note, written on her phone, meant she had named and blamed her killer, “from beyond the grave”, Wellings’ trial heard.
But he was cleared of her manslaughter and convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour towards Ms Dawes after a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court. Jurors heard Ms Dawes, a hairdresser from Fleetwood in Lancashire, had suffered two years of violence and abuse at the hands of Wellings.
