Boyfriend accused of killing Kiena Dawes made acid threat before death

A boyfriend accused of killing his partner is alleged to have threatened to throw acid in her face 'like Katie Piper' just days before she took her own life, a court heard.

Kiena Dawes, 23, made a desperate call to her brother in the days leading up to her death after allegedly being the victim of a campaign of abuse by her ex-partner and fiancé Ryan Wellings.

The mother-of-one was found dead on a railway track near Garstang, in Lancashire, on July 22, 2022, having suffered multiple injuries when she was struck by a Glasgow-bound train travelling at 110mph.

The hairdresser, from Fleetwood, had vanished earlier that day after leaving her nine-month-old daughter with a friend along with a suicide note on her mobile phone which said she'd been 'murdered' by Wellings.

Wellings, 30, is on trial accused of her manslaughter and the prosecution allege she died as as a result of his 'unlawful acts'.

They claim he took advantage of Kiena's vulnerability, due to her mental health, and subjected her to two-and-a-half years of coercive and controlling behaviour during their on-off relationship and was repeatedly violent and abusive towards her.

This abuse was a 'significant factor' in Kiena's decision to take her own life, it's claimed, with Wellings last attack coming just 11 days before she died.

Preston Crown Court heard today that Kiena was fearful of ending the relationship because Wellings had told her if she ever did 'he would throw acid in her face like Katie Piper so nobody else would want to be with her'.

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It was also claimed that Kiena's brother Kynan Dawes had taken a video call from her in the aftermath of that alleged attack, which left her with a cut head.

Mr Dawes told the jury: 'Blood was pouring down her face and her lips and mouth were bleeding.

'She was screaming on the telephone and asking me to help.

'She said Ryan was going to kill her and I needed to get there and help.'

Mr Dawes said he had urged his sister to 'stay away' from Wellings and she'd told him she wanted to 'make a change' and wouldn't 'go near him ever again'.

He said he'd been made aware of previous incidents when his sister was allegedly attacked and he'd threatened to 'cut off' a tattoo of her name from Wellings' neck.

Shortly after lockdown in March 2020, the couple had gone to live for a time in Bournemouth and it's alleged a jealous Wellings 'threw' Kiana across the living room of their home after wrongly suspecting she had slept with another man.

Mr Dawes recalled taking a phone call from his sister following the incident, which he said left her with bruises to her arms, legs and neck.

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'She said Ryan threw her across the living room, pinned her up by the throat by the television and threatened her,' he told the jury.

He said Wellings's attack was triggered by a text from another man Kurt Bradshaw which referenced an ongoing joke between him and Kiena that if she slept with him he would buy her a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes.

And because Kiena had got a pair of the shoes, Mr Dawes said, Wellings wouldn't have 'liked' it if they had slept together but 'that didn't happen'.

Mr Dawes said he had later confronted a 'crying' Wellings at his ex's home in Blackpool and given him 'five minutes' to tell him what had happened.

Wellings, he said, had told him he'd not 'hit' Kiena but he'd then threatened that he would 'cut off her name from the back of his neck' if he had - a reference to a tattoo Wellings got at start of the couple's relationship.

Earlier, the jury heard how Mr Dawes had introduced the couple but he'd been surprised by the 'speed' their relationship progressed, which included Wellings getting the tattoo early on.

Mr Dawes went on to tell the jury about other alleged attacks his sister had told him about.

They included Wellings leaving her with a 'black-eye' when she was heavily pregnant, 'trying to drown' her by holding her head in baby bath water and holding a drill to her face and threatening to 'drill her teeth out'.

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Mr Dawes said he'd wanted Kiena, who became 'withdrawn' over time, to leave Wellings and he'd offered to intervene.

But he said his sister had feared that would make 'things worse' and she'd not wanted him to threaten Wellings again.

The jury heard about a Facebook post that Kiena made following Wellings's alleged final attack on her, which she'd later taken down on the advice of police.

Mr Dawes said Kiena had been 'trying to raise awareness' of what was happening to her and 'opening up to the world' and didn't feel like she getting any protection.

'She felt like wasn't being believed and she was being ignored and where does she go now if the police won't take her seriously,' he said.

Under cross-examination from John Jones KC, defending, Mr Dawes admitted he had wanted to give Wellings a 'good beating'.

But he denied the joke between Mr Bradshaw and Kiena about the Jimmy Choo shoes had been used to 'wind up' Wellings.

Mr Dawes said he regarded Wellings as a friend and he didn't do that to friends, and Wellings 'temper' had caused him to attack Kiena.

The defence claim that Kiena's descriptions of Wellings's behaviour are either inaccurate, untrue or exaggerated and her death was not the consequence of any unlawful acts by Wellings.

It's alleged she was a 'deeply troubled' young woman with a long psychiatric history, which included previous attempts to take her own life.

Wellings, of Bispham, Lancashire, denies charges of controlling and coercive behaviour, assault causing actual bodily harm and manslaughter.

The trial - due to last four or five weeks - continues.

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