Young mother ‘covered in blood’ days before her death, court hears

Ryan Wellings, 30, denies the manslaughter of Kiena Dawes, 23, who took her own life.

Kiena Dawes, 23, from Fleetwood, was found dead on a railway line (PA) (PA Media)

A police officer found a vulnerable young woman “covered in blood” days before she was allegedly driven to suicide by her abusive partner, a court heard.

Pc Stephanie Sawyer told Preston Crown Court she went to the home of mother-of-one Kiena Dawes, 23, who had called 999 reporting a domestic incident with Ryan Wellings.

The 30-year-old is accused of the manslaughter of Miss Dawes who left a suicide note saying, “I was murdered…Ryan Wellings killed me”, before taking her own life on a railway line on July 22 2022 – 11 days after the alleged domestic violence incident.

The defendant, of Bispham, Lancashire, also denies assault and controlling and coercive behaviour to Ms Dawes during their relationship between January 2020 and July 2022.

She was covered in blood, on her hands, on her face. She was upset and she was crying

Pc Stephanie Sawyer

Pc Sawyer told the jury about the scene when she got to Miss Dawes’ flat in Fleetwood, Lancashire, at around 10.30am on July 11.

She said: “There was blood on the floor in the communal corridor. Kiena was sat on the floor with the door open with her daughter between her legs.

“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.”

The officer dressed Miss Dawes’ nine-month-old daughter, who was taken to her grandmother’s, and her mother was taken to hospital in Blackpool for treatment.

Miss Dawes said in a police statement that Wellings had called her a “schizophrenic freak” during the row, had “launched” her into a bathroom radiator causing it to break from the wall and he had slammed the door towards her, hitting her head, causing her to black out and cutting her head.

Wellings was later arrested but said he had tried to restrain her from attacking him.

Kevin O’Rourke, a domestic violence adviser at the hospital, told the court he spoke to Miss Dawes to complete a risk assessment.

His notes of what she told him detailed “emotional and physical abuse”, controlling behaviour, telling her to “kill herself” and living “in fear” of Wellings.

There were also earlier incidents of alleged domestic violence but Miss Dawes had decided she did not want to “press charges.”

Earlier, prosecutors alleged Wellings’ violence, bullying and abuse weakened Miss Dawes, making her more vulnerable to death by suicide and the assault on July 11 “broke her”.

Miss Dawes, a hairdresser, had been diagnosed with an Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD), resulting in increased impulsivity, poor self-esteem and difficulty in relationships, the court has heard.

Wellings exploited her mental health condition, it is alleged, and while the condition played a part in her decision to take her own life, so too did his abuse.

The court has heard that the couple met in January 2020 and an “intense” relationship began, Wellings having Miss Dawes’ name and face tattooed on his body a week after first meeting her and proposing marriage within three months.

Wellings denies attacking her and his lawyers say Ms Dawes was a “troubled” woman, whose mental health issues pre-dated meeting him and her decision to kill herself was the result of “multiple factors”.

The trial continues.