Women whose lives have been destroyed by abusive men have slammed the judicial system after Ryan Wellings was cleared of manslaughter following his partner’s suicide after he subjected her to a disgusting campaign of abuse.
Kiena Dawes, 23, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, took her own life after enduring more than two years of horrific domestic abuse at the hands of Wellings, whose fate was decided at Preston Crown Court on Monday.
Although cleared of manslaughter, Wellings was convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour for the terrifying abuse he inflicted upon Kiena.
The first defendant to be tried for unlawful killing of his partner who died by suicide following domestic abuse, Wellings egregiously blew a kiss to his current girlfriend from the dock after being found not guilty over Kiena’s death – at which point Kiena’s sister burst into tears.
The verdict has caused uproar among Kiena’s loved ones, after the mother of a baby girl wrote in a heartbreaking suicide note: ‘I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me.’
During the trial, jurors heard how Wellings repeatedly lash out at Kiena, a hairdresser, beating her while she was pregnant with his child, as well as threatening to drown her in a bath, drill her teeth and ‘make her look like Katie Piper‘ by dousing her with acid.
The 30-year-old also urged Ms Dawes to kill herself, boasted that ‘hitting you is like hitting a man’ and, on one occasion, dunked her head in a bath and said: ‘Say goodbye to your baby’.
In one incident just 11 days before Ms Dawes’ death, on July 11, 2022 he ‘launched’ her into a radiator with such force it broke the appliance off the wall, then slammed a door in her face – knocking her out and leaving her with blood pouring from her head.
She called police at least five times reporting domestic problems with Wellings. While she frequently downplayed her abuse to officers – due to threats from her partner – she did make a statement about the assault on July 11.
Leaving a heartbreaking suicide note, Kiena wrote: ‘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.’
In the note, she also shared her hopes that police would act ‘faster’ in cases like hers – and three police officers are now facing disciplinary proceedings.
Speaking outside the court on Monday after Wellings was cleared of manslaughter, Kiena’s mother Angela apologised to her ‘beautiful’ daughter for failing to get ‘justice’ for her.
Now victims of domestic abuse and families of women who took their own lives following abuse at the hands of their partners have opened up about the pain they have been caused by abusive men – and slammed the verdict in Wellings’ case.
They have accused the jury at Preston Crown Court of a total lack of understanding over the devastating consequences of domestic abuse and called upon the authorities to provide more support for victims.
‘The jury didn’t understand’ – Sharon Holland
Sharon Holland, 51, told FEMAIL she has barely stopped crying since Wellings was cleared of Kiena Dawes’s manslaughter – after her own daughter took her life in February 2023 following horrific abuse from her partner.
Chloe Holland, 23, died by suicide after she had endured months of physical and psychological abuse from Marc Masterson.
Masterson, 26, controlled Chloe’s appearance, isolated her from her friends and encouraged her to kill herself during their relationship.
On one occasion, Masterson assaulted Chloe with a dumbbell before handing her a knife and ordering her to harm herself. In his brutal beatings, he deliberately gave her black eyes so she would be unable to see her baby son.
He even put a tracking device on her phone which prevented her from escaping him and ensured he could claw her back into his clutches on the occasions when she did break free from him.
Just before her death in February 2023, Chloe reported Masterson to Hampshire Police, who opened an investigation. But due to the severe psychological impact of what she endured, she took her own life.
Masterson was arrested and charged with coercive and controlling behaviour, to which he pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was sentenced to just 41 months in prison.
Chloe’s bereaved mother Sharon, 51, opened up shortly after Masterson was sentenced to raise awareness of how domestic abuse can have fatal consequences.
Now campaigning to make homicide by coercive control a specific crime in the UK, Sharon slammed the length of her daughter’s abuser’s sentence while describing how his horrific actions affected Chloe.
‘No amount of time in prison will bring my daughter back,’ the mother-of-four said.
‘But less than five years for contributing to her death just isn’t fair.’
Kiena Dawes’s story brings back painful memories for Sharon, who can’t help but draw parallels with her daughter.
Speaking on Monday, Sharon said: ‘Since the verdict came in I’ve been crying on and off all day. I feel so angry.
‘Kiena’s case echoes Chloe’s so much and I’m heartbroken the family haven’t received justice for what he did to her. Another child has been left without a mother due to abuse.
‘There’s such a stigma around suicide and what leads a victim to take their life. People need to understand the toll abuse and coercive control has on someone’s mental health.
‘Reading the case details was shocking. Abusers make women feel like they can’t think for themselves and that they have no one and nowhere to turn for help. The worthlessness they feel causes irreversible psychological damage.
‘The jury clearly didn’t understand the devastating affects coercive control have on a person’s mental health.
‘Watching the videos of him laughing after being charged with manslaughter disgusted me.
‘And blowing kisses to his girlfriend and smirking in court after the verdict was read. Does he have no remorse for his daughter no longer having a mother? What sort of person does that? It’s horrific.
‘Like Chloe, Kiena was utterly failed by authorities. They should’ve taken more notice and protected her. When is it going to stop? Something has to change before more women die.’
‘My heart goes out to her family’ – Tracey Coupland
Kiena Dawes’s case will no doubt bring up painful memories for Tracey Coupland, 51, who was abused so badly by her ex-partner, she was driven to attempt suicide.
During an eight-year campaign of harassment and violence, Mark Bagworth, 55, put crushed glass inside Tracey’s shoes, hid her car keys and urinated on the family’s rabbit.
At 6’2′, he kicked 4′ 11′ Tracey, who has a chronic degenerative bone disorder, until she was covered in blood.
Appearing at Lincoln Crown Court in August last year, Bagworth pleaded guilty to two charges of ABH and harassment without violence and was handed a 23-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, 30 days of rehabilitation and a 10-year restraining order.
Human resources specialist Tracey is now rebuilding her life. In the wake of Kiena’s death, she has reflected on how her own life could have taken a very dark turn, had she not walked away from Bagworth.
The mother-of-one from Derbyshire, said: ‘If I hadn’t left Mark, I think I’d have ended up dead. It took so much courage to leave him, but it saved my life.
‘To the outside world, I had a good job, I was educated and comfortably off. People could not have dreamed what I was going through day after day.
‘People tried to warn me and tell me about him, but he was so far inside my head, he had complete control over me. I couldn’t think for myself. My life was consumed by him totally.
‘Over time, he systematically removed everyone who mattered to me, alienating me from friends and family, so that I felt I had nobody left to confide in.’
As Bagworth’s insidious campaign of abuse against Tracey continued, he subjected her to indirect ‘punishments’ for things she had done to upset him.
‘He cut up my daughter’s hair extensions. He insisted it wasn’t him, but I knew, logically, it had to be. Yet I questioned whether I was going mad.
‘Once when he was very angry, he urinated on my daughter’s rabbit. Another time, he left the front door open and our kitten escaped and we never saw it again.’
In arguments, Mark would throw ashtrays or pots at Tracey, who suffers from a bone disorder. Then, in February 2019, he threw boiling water over her on two occasions.
She said: ‘We had visitors and I went into the kitchen to make drinks. Mark was on the phone in there and he was so angry at me disturbing him that he chucked the kettle towards me splashing my arm with boiling water. It took him two attempts to make sure he got me.’
‘I was so ashamed, I didn’t even cry out. I just ran upstairs to change my clothes and carried on as if nothing had happened.
‘To the outside world, I was someone with a successful career and a happy family and I blamed myself for what was happening to me. At work, I covered my bruises with make-up and people presumed I had injuries from my horses.’
After suffering at Bagworth’s hands for years, Tracey reached a point where she could see no other way out.
She recalled: ‘I got so desperate that I took an overdose, all the medication I could find in the house, and I went to sleep on the sofa.
‘It was a genuine attempt to end my life because I saw no way out. Luckily, I survived, and I felt so ashamed that I considered leaving my daughter. Yet I know the shame belongs to the abuser and not to the victim.
‘My heart goes out to the family of Kiena Dawes; to take her own life and leave her daughter behind, she must have been at the lowest point possible.’
Tracey said it is vital to speak out – to the right people – and get help.
She said: ‘Family members, however well-meaning, might not be the best people to talk to – and to hear a stranger horrified by what you see as your normal life is powerful.
‘I spoke to a domestic abuse helpline, and I was eventually referred to Derbyshire Wish. I also had support at work.
‘Now, over a year on, I am still receiving support. The damage will never fully heal. For months afterwards, I used to ask myself: ‘What would Mark do? What would Mark say?’.’
‘I had lost the ability to be myself. That is slowly coming back now. For everyone trapped in an abusive relationship, I would beg you to speak to a professional. They will help you and your life will get better.’
‘I can relate to Kiena’ – Jolene Norman
Jolene Norman read Kiena Dawes’s story and felt intense empathy for her, having also been subject to horrific abuse at the hands of a partner.
The mother-of-two, 31, lied to her family members about her partner Dale Gretsy’s physical and emotional abuse because she was ‘trauma-bonded’ to him.
Gretsy, also known as Dale Scott, was jailed for 32 months in December 2022 after attacking Jolene in her home.
A mother-of-two Jolene, 31, said: ‘Reading about Kiena, I can relate so much to her. You feel trauma bonded and worthless, and you feel trapped and lonely. You want to ask for help but you’re not always strong enough.
‘I even lied to family members to hide what he was doing to me. I was at such a low point when I was in the abuse.’
Jolene, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, met Gretsy in late 2019 on social media and soon discovered they had mutual friends.
Although he seemed friendly at first, Jolene says Dale’s behaviour changed when his grandfather died and he attacked her in a drunken rage.
In a horrific attack, triggered by jealousy, Gresty cut Jolene with scissors, broke her bathroom door in two and threatened to pour acetone into her wounds.
He was arrested and in May 2020 and convicted of assault by beating, unlawful wounding and ABH at Chester Crown Court. He was jailed for 27 months.
After Gretsy was put behind bars, Jolene discovered she was pregnant with his child.
Jolene recalled: ‘I somehow got my life back together and concentrated on raising my daughter.’
But after he was released from prison, Gresty tracked Jolene down and demanded to see his daughter.
She said: ‘He barged in and I knew immediately he was in a rage. He was furious he had ended up in prison because of what he did to me – he saw it all as my fault.
‘Our daughter was asleep upstairs and Dale was grabbing my hair, pulling me back into the room every time I tried to run away from him.
‘He punched, kicked and slapped me and it was only when I somehow found a superhuman strength to push him out of the window that I was saved. It was a ground floor window which was already partially open so I just shoved him and out he went.
‘I closed it quickly and called for help and he was arrested.’
Gresty once again appeared at Chester Crown Court in December 2022 and was convicted of ABH and breaching a restraining order.
Threat to kill and non-fatal strangulation were left to lie on file, meaning there was enough evidence to bring a charge against him but the CPS decided it was not in the public interest to proceed. He was jailed for 32 months.
Jolene reflected: ‘I struggled to put the attack behind me but knowing he is in prison gives me so much comfort. I want other women to know that you must get help – before it is too late.
‘I’ve learned to spot the signs of an abuser and I will never put myself in that position again.’
Reflecting on Kiena’s case, she said: ‘The police have victim support and domestic violence advocates but are they are doing enough?
‘I found I was pressured into prosecuting and then left feeling I had no justice or support afterwards.
‘I was failed, and I think Kiena was failed too. Now she has left her child behind because of a monster.
‘I can only imagine how lost and alone she felt, thinking that man was her everything at one point. I am so sorry she and her family have been through this.
‘I have a job, I have my children, and I have so much to look forward to. But it’s not always a good outcome. Kiena should still be here today.’
