An ‘abusive’ boyfriend accused of driving his partner to suicide today admitted giving her a black eye during an argument.
Ryan Wellings, who is on trial for manslaughter, told jurors that Kiena Dawes suffered the injury while trying to defend herself from a scratch to her face.
The “brilliant and popular” hairdresser was “destroyed” by two and a half years of domestic violence, a jury was told.
Feeling “without support” from police after being left bloodied in a subsequent alleged assault by the 30-year-old man in July 2022, she left her nine-month-old daughter with a friend before throwing herself in the road. a train .
After her death, a note was found on the 23-year-old’s phone in which she wrote how she had been “slowly murdered”, adding: “Ryan Wellings killed me.”
Wellings denies committing manslaughter and assault causing actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behavior in an intimate relationship.
Presenting his defense at Preston Crown Court today, Wellings said arguments occurred “constantly”.
He agreed with his lawyer, John Jones KC, that their relationship had been “volatile”.
Ryan Wellings, charged with manslaughter, told jurors he gave his partner Kiena Davies a black eye during an argument.
Kiena Dawes (pictured), 23, disappeared from her home in Fleetwood, Lancashire, on July 22, 2022 before taking her own life.
Accepting that his behavior towards her had at times been “stupid”, he told the jury that many of their rows had been caused by drugs, alcohol and suspicions of infidelity.
But he insisted that he loved Mrs Dawes and did not want to end their relationship.
“We were always doing drugs,” he said.
Wellings said that when the relationship was good it was “perfect”, with “romantic” gestures such as “candlelight teas”.
But when he was bad as a result of his “party lifestyle,” he became “very toxic immediately.”
“When we were arguing, she would start hitting me, so I would hold her down,” he said.
He said an occasion in April 2021 when Ms Dawes attacked him was sparked by him returning from work with cocaine and alcohol which she could not take because she was pregnant.
Wellings told the jury she began “hitting me, calling me a bum,” packed up his things and ordered him to leave the apartment.
Jurors were shown a message in which Mrs Dawes told a friend she “went for him”.
Wellings, from Bispham, Lancashire, who denies all charges against him, was remanded in custody and is currently on trial.
The court heard a “pattern” developed in which Wellings was “aggressive and violent” before “showing” Ms Dawes with affection.
He told the jury his angry reaction had been “correct”, and described his behavior that night as “stupid”.
In July 2021, Ms Dawes called the police accusing Wellings of inflicting a black eye during an argument at their flat in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
When asked about the incident, Wellings, dressed in a dark suit and tie, with no jacket and visible tattoos on his hands and neck, said he provoked it when he used his late father’s aftershave without permission.
“We both started arguing,” he told the jury. ‘She called me disrespectful.
“I think I threatened to throw the aftershave bottle out the window.”
Wellings said Mrs Dawes then “scratched my face with her nails”.
While trying to escape, she said ‘the palm of my hand hit her on the top of her head, causing a black eye on her eyelid.’
‘Brilliant and popular’ hairdresser was ‘destroyed’ by two-and-a-half years of domestic violence, jury was told
Wellings (pictured with Ms Dawes) denies committing manslaughter and assault causing actual bodily harm and controlling and coercive behavior in an intimate relationship.
When Mr Jones asked for his reaction, Wellings said he had felt “gutted” because “my pregnant lady had a black eye”.
Wellings later removed a 75-inch television that he said he had paid for, along with a vacuum cleaner and jewelry, from the apartment.
Later that afternoon, jurors heard Wellings sent Ms Dawes a message saying: “I’m so sorry for everything, I love you.”
But she replied “he has gone too far.”
Wellings yesterday admitted to having cocaine “binge binges” that lasted for days, spending £400 on the drug each time.
He said he had attempted suicide five times after despairing of his ability to curb his habit, saying he was “using drugs every day for two years.”
Earlier today, Wellings told the court he felt “embarrassed” and “embarrassed” after becoming violently angry during the first months of their relationship in March 2020 and threatening to “kill” her.
Jurors have heard that Wellings allegedly “threw” Ms Dawes across the living room of their then home in Bournemouth and threw a stool at her, causing her to cut her foot on broken glass.
Giving evidence, Wellings said the incident was triggered by a message Ms Dawes had received from her friend Kurt Bradshaw.
The message was about a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes which the jury previously heard Mr Bradshaw had joked about giving her if she slept with him.
Wellings said that when his relationship with Ms Dawes was good, it was “perfect”, but sometimes it was bad as a result of her “partying lifestyle”.
“I picked up the stool and kicked it across the room,” he said.
“It landed behind the sofa and two glasses of Prosecco broke.”
He then shouted: “I will kill them all,” referring to Mrs Dawes, her brother and Mr Bradshaw, he said.
Wellings said he had been “drunk” after consuming six bottles of Prosecco and had then “passed out” on the sofa.
“I felt ashamed, ashamed and I felt sorry for Kiena,” he said.
Jurors were told yesterday that in 2019 Wellings admitted assault against his previous partner, Kayleigh Anderson.
On that occasion, after Anderson picked him up in her car, Wellings was “verbally abusive” and began “hitting her and calling her a bitch” and punching her in the back of the head, prosecutor Paul Greaney KC told the jury.
Wellings then tried to grab the steering wheel before Anderson stopped the car and he “launched” at her, only to be stopped by his own father, Greaney said.
Wellings then caused “substantial damage” to the car, the court heard.
After being arrested for the incident in January 2019, Wellings told police “it had all started” after he went to a party.
“I’ve done a lot of coke, I have a problem,” he told the agents.
Additionally, a year after Dawes’ death, he punched a friend in the face after a drinking session and later admitted causing actual bodily harm.
Wellings treated Mrs Dawes in a “completely abusive manner” and subjected her to repeated physical attacks, Mr Greaney told the trial at Preston Crown Court.
A final assault on July 11, 2022, just 11 days before his suicide on the West Coast Main Line near Garstang, Lancashire, was a “major factor” in his decision to take his life, he said.
Although she suffered from an emotionally unstable personality disorder, he “exploited” her vulnerability and “made things worse.”
The court heard a “pattern” developed in which Wellings was “aggressive and violent” before “showering” Ms Dawes with affection.
“In the end, it was to crush Kiena,” Greaney said.
Mrs Dawes’ mental health condition resulted in increased impulsivity, low self-esteem and relationship difficulties, the court heard.
Feeling “unsupported” by police after Wellings allegedly left her with a bloodied face, she left her nine-month-old daughter with a friend before taking her own life.
In the suicide note found on her phone detailing how she “went through pain no one could imagine”, Mrs Dawes added: ‘I was murdered. Slowly.’
He also wrote: “I hope my life will save another if the police services act faster.”
Ms Dawes’ mental health condition resulted in increased impulsivity, low self-esteem and relationship difficulties, the court heard.
The defense claims that Ms. Dawes’ descriptions of Wellings’ behavior are inaccurate, false or exaggerated and that his death was not the result of any illegal act on his part.
She was alleged to have been a “deeply troubled” young woman with a long psychiatric history, which included previous attempts to take her own life.
The trial continues.
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