'Fairy tale turned to nightmare' for young mum allegedly driven to take her own life, court hears

A young mum allegedly driven to take her own life by her abusive partner said the relationship turned from 'fairy tale to nightmare' a court heard.

Ryan Wellings, 30, is accused of the manslaughter of Kiena Dawes, 23. She left their eight-month-old daughter with a friend before taking her own life on a railway line on July 22, 2022, leaving a suicide note saying, 'I was murdered ... Ryan Wellings killed me'.

Today at Preston Crown Court, a jury heard Ms Dawes had kept in touch on Facebook with her old school teacher, Nicola Atherton, who assumed she was in a happy relationship with Wellings. But Miss Dawes told Mrs Atherton, who taught her at Lytham St Annes High School, Lancashire, the reality of their relationship, jurors heard.

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The hairdresser, from Fleetwood, Lancashire, met Wellings in January 2020 and was “swept off her feet”. He had her name and face tattooed on his body just a week later and proposed marriage within three months.

But it is alleged that Wellings began physically and emotionally abusing Miss Dawes soon after. He is also accused of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour between January 2020 and July 2022, which he denies.

Mrs Atherton told the court: “She just said the first six months were a fairy tale but then it turned into a nightmare. Those were her exact words. Horrendous domestic violence. Horrendous physical abuse.” Miss Dawes, communicating via Facebook messenger, said her posts on there, did not show the “true side” of her life and sent Mrs Atherton photos of injuries allegedly caused by beatings from Wellings.

Mrs Atherton told her she was “best rid” of Wellings and