Many domestic abuse victims are driven to suicide – the law must change
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KIENA DAWES took her own life after suffering two-and-half years of hideous abuse at the hands of ex-partner Ryan Wellings. Aged just 23, Kiena — who had a nine-month-old baby with Wellings — left a suicide note reading: “I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I didn’t deserve it.”.
![[Close-up photo of a woman's face with blood and bruises.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/kiena-dawes-following-alleged-assault-797476703.jpg?strip=all&w=528)
This week a jury found the landscape gardener guilty of assault and controlling and coercive behaviour. However, Wellings, 30, was cleared of manslaughter. Wellings was the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of a partner after taking her own life following domestic violence.
![[Mugshot of Ryan Wellings, found guilty of assault and domestic violence.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/undated-handout-photo-issued-lancashire-963492941_2136ac.jpg?strip=all&w=480)
Figures show those driven to suicide by partners now outnumber victims killed by their tormentors. In England and Wales, 93 people are suspected to have taken their own lives between April 2022 and March 2023 after being abused. While 80 people were killed by a current or former partner.
![[Photo of Kiena Dawes.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2022-shortly-reported-missing-dawes-963492954_66b983.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
I believe these figures, while shocking, are unreliable. It is only something we have become more aware of recently. Anecdotally and from organisations that support bereaved families, my sense is suicide is three to five times more common than homicide following domestic abuse.
And I think research will eventually establish just how frequent. The actions of the Lancashire police officers, who investigated Wellings, were terrible. They failed to charge him and he was bailed. It was during his bail period that he continued to terrorise Kiena, a hairdresser, from Fleetwood.
