Alice Wood has been found guilty of murdering Ryan Watson (Picture: PA)
A jealous killer who used her car ‘as a weapon’ to kill her boyfriend had her top A Level grades tattooed on her arm, a former friend has said.
Alice Wood, 23, mowed down her 24-year-old boyfriend Ryan Watson after accusing him of flirting with another woman at a party.
She was found guilty of murder on Tuesday – and her ex friend says her horrific crime seemed extremely out of character.
Wood, a former Manchester University philosophy student, ran charity support worker Ryan over outside their home in Cheshire in May 2022 and dragged him nearly 500ft underneath her Ford Fiesta.
The former friend told the Mirror: ‘Alice never showed any signs of jealousy, anger or aggression and wasn’t the type of person you had to be careful around.
‘She was friendly with the majority of people and quite quiet – but when she did speak it was of value. I think that’s why it came as such a shock.
Alice’s arrest was caught on a police body camera (Picture: PA)
Wood has been found guilty of murder (Picture: PA)
‘Speaking to everyone who knew her the general consensus is this is unexpected. She was really smart, like effortlessly so.
‘In the first year of secondary she was selected for the gifted and talented group, got three A-stars at A-level and was one of only a few pupils in the school’s history to get to the final selection stage for Oxford.’
During the murder trial, Andrew Ford KC said for the prosecution: ‘Ryan was caught on camera having a good time, being a gregarious and outgoing party guest.
‘We say this is a simple case – she lost her temper, had an argument with her boyfriend and used the car as a weapon.’
Ryan was only 24 when he was killed (Picture: PA)
Wood ran Ryan over with her Ford Fiesta (Picture: Cheshire Police)
Ryan died of crush asphyxiation injuries, and Wood was almost double the drink-drive limit when she got in the car and attacked him.
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Wood denied both murder and manslaughter, describing Ryan’s death as a ‘tragic accident’, but the jury saw through her claims and found her guilty of murder within eight hours.
She faces life in prison when she is sentenced on January 29.
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‘Speaking to everyone who knew her the general consensus is this is unexpected. She was really smart, like effortlessly so.’