Kiena Dawes had left a suicide note which read: ‘I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me.’
‘Monster’ who abused partner Kiena Dawes for years and threatened to drill out her teeth jailed
An abusive boyfriend who subjected his vulnerable partner to two years of assault and domestic abuse has been jailed, after being cleared of her manslaughter earlier this week.
Ryan Wellings, 30, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison but was cleared of the unlawful killing of Kiena Dawes, who left a suicide note calling her partner a “monster” who had “killed me”. Wellings was seen smiling as he left the dock following his sentencing.
The 23-year-old left the note and their nine-month-old daughter with a friend before taking her own life on a railway line on 22 July 2022.
Wellings’s abuse of Ms Dawes included regular slapping and “ragging” by her hair, threats to use a drill to take out her teeth, and saying he would “make her look like Katie Piper” by throwing acid in her face. During the final stages of their relationship, she was hospitalised after he beat her, with Wellings breaking his bail conditions shortly after he was arrested.
‘Monster’ who abused partner Kiena Dawes for years and threatened to drill out her teeth jailed