Young mum Kiena Dawes tragically said goodbye to her little girl for the last time before taking her own life after a campaign of abuse at the hands of her boyfriend.
The 23-year-old suffered two years of torment from fiance Ryan Wellings – who regularly flew into cocaine-fuelled fits of rage – leaving a broken Kiena fearing for her life. His campaign of terror saw the mum-of-one seek help on several occasions, however it is only now that the true extent of her torment has been laid bare after a court found Wellings guilty of assault, coercive behaviour and prolonged domestic violence following her suicide.
The hairdresser, from Fleetwood in Lancashire, left a note with her daughter when she dropped her off at a friend’s house on July 22, 2022, declaring that Wellings was responsible for her “murder”. However, following a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court, Wellings was cleared of her manslaughter.
Kiena’s body was found by police near Barnacre. Her death came 11 days after one final assault by her landscape gardener partner, that left a bloody gash on her head.
The jury read hundreds of distressing text messages sent between the couple. Wellings, 30, was described by prosecutor Paul Greaney KC as an “entitled, aggressive bully” and by Ms Dawes’ friends as a “horrible little b*****d” with a jealous streak. They said he did not like being answered back, which “triggers his anger”.
His abuse of Ms Dawes included regular slapping and “ragging” by her hair and threats to use a drill to take out her teeth. He threatened to “make her look like Katie Piper” by throwing acid in her face. He also sponged cash off her, securing and leaving 22 jobs and draining her of money while she worked two jobs.
After she became pregnant in February 2021, Wellings gave her a black eye and began criticising her weight, calling her a “fat little b***h” while contacting escorts and prostitutes online. In a first hint of trouble, on February 25, 2020, just a month after they met, Kiena had sent Wellings a message saying: “Stop hurting me now xxxx.”
In the Christmas of that year, Kiena told Wellings that she was leaving him, which saw her “ragged around” by her hair and he demanded money from her. Her mother had instructed her to call the police, but she made up with him the next day.
By February 2021, after Kiena – who had been diagnosed with a personality disorder resulting in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships – fell pregnant, she stopped taking her medication for her condition, and her mental health began to deteriorate. She was admitted to a mental hospital on February 20 and remained there for three weeks due to feeling suicidal.
Her partner warned her that no one would believe her complaints about him due to her mental illness, and threatened that their unborn child would be taken away from her if she spoke up. Just a few months later on July 5, 2021, Wellings gave Kiena, who was six months pregnant at the time, a black eye.
She rang the police but before they arrived, Wellings got into her head about them taking their unborn baby off them. Once they got to the door, she went back on her statement and told them it was just a verbal argument.
Wellings promised he would never do it again. Just a month later, Kiena called the police for the second time, explaining that she had separated from Wellings but he was trying to take her belongings from their flat. It was here that she told officers Wellings had assaulted her in the past.
In bodycam footage from Lancashire Police, a pregnant Kiena tells them she has no one who she can rely on. “I’ve got no-one who can help me, but he has a lot of people who can help him,” she says through upsetting breaths. “I’m trying to get rid of him, but he tries to take everything, he has taken all of my shoes, my jewellery, literally everything, he has people who come. He knows my dad is dead and can’t help me.”
The officer asks why she can’t talk to her mum, and Kiena replies: “Because she’s sick of it.” The officer hears that this is the third call to the police, and Kiena says: “This is so bad, he says that because I have a mental health condition, you’ll take the baby off me. He’ll make you think I’m crazy. I’ve got a personality disorder. It has nothing to do with all of this.” The policewoman assures her: “Listen, there are plenty of people with mental health issues that have children.”
Keina adds: “I know but he just says if I ring anyone to help, they’ll just take my kid, and he’ll get all of his family to just say I’m crazy. It’s so bad. I just need it to stop.”
Her mother then got involved with the police in November 2021, with Angela calling 999 saying that Wellings was refusing to leave the flat and just a month later at Christmas time, an incident saw the abuser turn on his cordless drill and put it against Kiena’s face and threaten to drill her teeth out.
In the New Year, Kiena had the courage to call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline, reporting abuse and violence from Wellings. And on March 15, 2022, she made her first witness statement to police after calling 999, reporting domestic violence.
The report saw Wellings arrested on suspicion of assault, however she later said she didn’t want to pursue a complaint, and took him back for fear of what the he father-of-three might do to her.
Just weeks before she took her own life, on July 4, Kiena drove into the back of a car, telling paramedics she forgot she was on the road and was thinking about suicide. A week later, on July 11, the couple had a row when Kiena moved some of his belongings while vacuuming – an argument that later proved to be fatal.
Wellings demanded she return the engagement ring he had given her and threw it out the window, the court heard. With their daughter ‘screaming’ next to them, she managed to push Wellings out of the flat, she told police, only for him to fling the door open, slamming it in her face, causing her to black out.
With blood pouring down her face, she made a desperate 999 call where she said Wellings had “launched” her into a bathroom radiator, knocking it from a wall and had slammed a door in her face, knocking her out and leaving a gash on her head. In a police statement, Kiena – who had been diagnosed with a personality disorder, resulting in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships – said Wellings had called her a “schizophrenic freak”.
PC Sawyer told the jury about the scene when she got to the flat at about 10.30pm. She said: “There was blood on the floor in the communal corridor. She was covered in blood, on her hands, on her face. She was upset and she was crying. She had a cut to the right side of her head.
“There was a broken towel rail in the bathroom.” Kiena, who was treated in hospital for her injuries, had the courage to call the police at least five times during their romance, reporting domestic incidents, but refrained from pressing charges due to threats from Wellings that their baby would be taken away. But on this occasion, she made a statement about the assault on July 11 which saw Wellings arrested again.
He was bailed on the condition not to contact Ms Dawes. However on July 17, he called her in the early hours with threats. When she reported the call to police, it wasn’t treated as a breach of bail, which left her feeling “unsupported”.
In a bid to not go through it alone, she opened up to her friends about what life was like with the father of her child behind closed doors. Three days before her death, she sent a text message to a friend, saying: “I was in hospital longer than he was in the cells. The world is f****d and I hate it.”
Kiena also had kept a meticulous list on the Notes app on her phone of all the times he abused her or cruelly assaulted her. This log, disguised as an ordinary shopping list, was later analysed by police.
The top of the note read ‘Food – tomatoes’, before going on to detail Wellings’ vile humiliations. These included: ‘You think you’re better than everyone’, ‘You’re a dosser’, ‘You had nothing’ and ‘You had f*** all your whole life’.
Other insults included: ‘You do s***haircuts’, ‘You are a fat little f***’ and ‘You feel sorry for yourself every day because you’ve had a s**t life. Get over it’. Kiena also explained how Wellings had accused her of cheating, writing: “I slept with his uncle whilst I was pregnant that’s why my nails fell off I was sh**** in the hot tub” and “I slept with his friend for a pair of shoes.”
On July 22, 2022, it all became too much to bear for Kiena, who said she felt “let down” by the police. She dropped off their nine-month-old baby daughter at a friend’s house before going on to kill herself.
She left her daughter inside, along with a parting letter, which read: “I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I didn’t deserve it. I hope my life saves another by police services acting faster. Don’t let bullies live free.”
The mum-of-one had also written a suicide note on her phone, which read: “The end. I fought hard, I fought long. I went through pain no one could imagine. I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I had dreams. I had a future at one point. That was taken away from me.”
Defence counsel John Jones KC told the jury that the couple’s “party lifestyle” had been a “recipe for disaster”. “This corrosive and destructive combination was to bring heartache to them both, and death to one,” Mr Jones said.
“Mental health on one side, drug abuse and temper on the other. We know that. They did not know or appreciate it at the time, that’s the point. You must determine what caused that death. We say it was not caused in any significant degree by Ryan Wellings.”
Kiena had been described as a “very troubled young lady” who decided to end her life not because of Wellings, but because of “multiple factors”. She had also made a number of suicide attempts in the past, before she met him.
Speaking after Wellings was convicted, Kiena’s devastated mother Angela Dawes said: “I’m finding it almost impossible to put into words how big of an impact losing Kiena has been. Kiena was a rare gem. She brought so much love and kindness to this world, into everyone who loved her. She was an extremely beautiful girl and was quite truly the sweetest, kindest and gentlest person I have ever known.”
Three officers from Lancashire Police are now facing misconduct hearings after it was heard Kiena had approached the force multiple times about Wellings’ behaviour towards her during his two-and-a-half years of abuse.
If you need to talk and don’t know where to turn to, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit the website to find your local branch.
