A charity which supports women has said it deals with the kind of domestic abuse experienced by Kiena Dawes every day and violent controlling behaviour by a perpetrator was "sadly not a rarity".

Ryan Wellings subjected Kiena Dawes, his vulnerable partner, to assault and years of domestic abuse and was jailed this week for assault and coercive and controlling behaviour

Ryan Wellings has been jailed for six and a half years for coercive and controlling behaviour towards a young mother who took her own life. | ITV News Granada

The young mother's relationship with Ryan Wellings, 30, turned from "a fairytale to a nightmare", the judge says, before she took her own life in 2022.

Ryan Wellings, 30, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for controlling and coercive behaviour and assault - but was previously cleared of her manslaughter.

Ryan Wellings has been imprisoned for six and a half years for the abuse and assault of his partner, Kiena Dawes, who took her own life. Wellings, 30, was found guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour and actual bodily harm (ABH) after a trial at Preston Crown Court lasting six weeks, though he was acquitted of manslaughter by the jury.

During the trial the jury heard Ms Dawes, a 23-year-old hairdresser, from Fleetwood in Lancashire, left a note saying "I was murdered" and that Wellings had "killed [her]" before taking her own life on 22 July 2022.

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Wellings assaulted her in a jealous rage. The same year he dragged her by her hair and demanded money from her. A pregnant Kiena also suffered a black eye when a