Woman Found Injured Days Before Death, Trial Hears

A jury has been informed that a young woman was discovered “covered in blood” mere days prior to her alleged suicide, which prosecutors claim was driven by an abusive partner. Police Constable Stephanie Sawyer testified that upon her visit to Kiena Dawes at her residence in Fleetwood, Lancashire, before Dawes’s death, she observed blood covering her. Preston Crown Court was informed that the 23-year-old had contacted 999 to report a domestic disturbance involving Ryan Wellings. Mr. Wellings, 30, from Bispham, Lancashire, has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, assault, and engaging in controlling and coercive behavior towards Ms. Dawes, spanning from January 2020 until her death on 22 July 2022. It was previously disclosed to the court that Ms. Dawes had left a note stating “I was murdered” and that her partner, Mr. Wellings, had “killed me” prior to her taking her own life on a railway line, 11 days following the alleged domestic violence incident. PC Sawyer described the scene to the jury upon her arrival at Ms. Dawes’s flat around 22:30 BST on 11 July. She stated: “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.” She added: “There was a broken towel rail in the bathroom.” In a police statement, Ms. Dawes recounted that during the argument, Mr. Wellings had referred to her as a “schizophrenic freak,” had “launched” her into a bathroom radiator, causing it to detach from the wall, and had forcefully shut the door towards her, striking her head, leading her to lose consciousness and sustain a head injury. Subsequently, Mr. Wellings was arrested, but he asserted that he had attempted to restrain her as she was attacking him. Kevin O’Rourke, a domestic violence adviser employed at the hospital, informed the court that he had conversed with Ms. Dawes to conduct a risk assessment. His records of their conversation documented “emotional and physical abuse,” controlling behavior, instructions for her to “kill herself,” and her living “in fear” of Mr. Wellings. The court was apprised of prior alleged domestic violence incidents, but Ms. Dawes had chosen not to “press charges.” Prosecutors contend that Mr. Wellings’s violence, intimidation, and mistreatment debilitated Ms. Dawes, increasing her susceptibility to death by suicide, and that the alleged assault on 1 July “broke her.” The jury was informed that Ms. Dawes, a hairdresser, had received a diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, which led to heightened impulsivity, low self-esteem, and challenges in her relationships. The court has been told that the couple first encountered each other in January 2020, initiating an “intense” relationship, with Mr. Wellings getting Ms. Dawes’s name and face tattooed on his body a week after their initial meeting and proposing marriage within three months. Mr. Wellings denies assaulting her, and the defense team asserts that Ms. Dawes was a “troubled” woman whose mental health conditions existed before she met him, and that her choice to end her life stemmed from “multiple factors.” The proceedings are ongoing.