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Kiena Dawes: Domestic Abuse Induced Suicide and Manslaughter

Writer's picture: Rhianna DorrianRhianna Dorrian

Kiena Dawes, a 23-year-old mother, tragically took her life in 2022 after enduring severe abuse from her partner, Ryan Wellings.


In her suicide note, Kiena named Wellings as her killer. 


'I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I had dreams. I had a future at one point. That was taken away from me'. 


Kiena Dawes. Pic: Lancaster Police.
Kiena Dawes. Pic: Lancaster Police.

This heartbreaking suicide occurred just two weeks after a brutal assault that left her unconscious in front of her infant daughter. 


Previous abuse included incidents following Kiena’s attempt to end their relationship where Wellings is alleged to have menaced her by activating a drill and threatening to 'drill the teeth' out of her mouth. He also threatened to pour acid on her face.

Wellings was charged with coercive and controlling behaviour under the Serious Crime Act 2015, assault under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, and unlawful act manslaughter.


While he was found guilty of the first two charges, the jury did not convict him of manslaughter. Why not?


Unlawful and Dangerous Act Manslaughter (UDAM)


UDAM, also known as constructive manslaughter, is a longstanding common law offence in English criminal law, comprising four key elements:


  1. An unlawful act; 

  2. That is reasonably comprehensible as dangerous;

  3. Committed with the requisite mens rea (guilty mind); and

  4. The act caused the death. 


The necessary mens rea is for the unlawful act rather than any intention for a victim's suicide. 


Criminal liability for another's suicide has existed since the Suicide Act 1961, through the offences of encouraging or assisting suicide. However, the application of this statute to domestic abuse-induced suicide (DAIS) remains unexplored. Instead, UDAM has emerged as a potential avenue for legal recourse.


UDAM first failed to be successfully imposed in R v Dhaliwal  [2006] EWCA Crim 113 after Gurjit Dhaliwal, following years of sustained abuse by her husband, including suffering a blow to the head on the night of her death, took her own life by hanging in 2005. 

The case failed as the offence of coercive and controlling behaviour did not exist, tying the hands of the judiciary. 


Following the introduction of coercive and controlling behaviour as a criminal offence in 2015, the case of Justene Reece marked a turning point. Her abuser, Nicholas Allen, was successfully convicted of UDAM. This was possible because coercive and controlling behaviour constituted an unlawful and dangerous act capable of causing suicide.

Justene Reece's case was a legal first in England and Wales and it was hoped that Kiena's would continue on this path. Unfortunately, the jury struggled with maintaining that Welling's abuse caused Kiena's death. 


The Issue of Causation


English criminal law has long required that an unlawful act be a significant and operating cause of death rather than the sole cause, since R v Smith [1959] 2 QB 35. Therefore, despite Kiena's pre-existing mental health issues, Welling's abuse was a significant and operating cause of death, particularly having been named as her 'killer' in her own words in her suicide note. 


UDAM also stipulates that the necessary intention is for coercive and controlling behaviour, making it irrelevant that Wellings never intended for Kiena to commit suicide.


Sadly, the jury did not interpret causation in this way, resulting in a profound injustice to Kiena and her family. 


Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told the judge that although the jury did not convict Wellings of manslaughter, the court should sentence him on the basis of his coercive abuse of Miss Dawes 'set the scene for her death'. 


While Wellings received a six-and-a-half-year sentence for assault and coercive behaviour (with an additional six months for a previous assault), this sentence does not legally hold him responsible for Kiena’s death.


Six and a half years is no way sufficient punishment for the severe pain Welling's abuse caused and should not be viewed as a success in this case. UDAM carries a maximum penalty of 24 years- a far more fitting sentence to reflect Wellings’ role in Kiena’s death.


The Link Between Domestic Abuse and Suicide 


DA and suicide are innately linked due to DA’s status as a ‘liberty crime’ and its erosion of a victim’s autonomy and well-being. [1] The chronicity of this harm is heightened by the intimate nature of the relationship in which the abuse is perpetrated and the violation of the expected trust. 


As a result, there is a substantial prevalence of suicide among domestic abuse victims which, by extension, disproportionately affects women as they comprise two-thirds of the annual 2.3 million victims of DA in the UK.[2] 


Of the total reported 242 domestic abuse-related deaths from April 2022 to March 2023 in England and Wales, 93 were found to be suicides following domestic abuse compared to 80 intimate partner homicides ('IPH'). 90% of these suicides were women. [3] The number of suspected suicides following abuse outweighs the number of deaths from Intimate Partner Homicides in the given period. DAIS, therefore, mirrors domestic abuse's classification as a gendered crime. 


Legislative Shortcomings


The Domestic Abuse Act 2021, introduced as a landmark' reform, aims to vindicate victims' rights. However, it fails to address DAIS, relying instead on existing offences that have repeatedly proven ineffective. Kiena’s case exemplifies these failings.


The prevalence of suicide following domestic abuse calls for policy change. The criminal law has long been capable of upholding causation within domestic abuse-induced suicide cases, with case law providing strong precedent. 


Kiena's case could have furthered this precedent, but instead, we have seen an abuser leave court without being held criminally responsible for the death that his severe abuse provoked. 


The law is capable of such justice, and it is time for society to catch up and hold abusers accountable for those victims who take their own lives rather than continue to endure their horrific abuse. 


My thoughts go out to Kiena and her family and their bravery in navigating this trial and this heartbreaking result. 


Further Research 


Our founder is conducting PhD research at the University of Bristol, supervised by Dr Joanne Conaghan and Dr Jennifer Collins, on domestic abuse-induced suicide and whether a new offence would be superior to manslaughter. Kiena's case will provide substantial evidence of the failure of the current justice system to provide true justice to victims of abuse. 


For inquiries about this research or collaboration opportunities, please do not hesitate to reach out.




References 


[1] Please see the late Evan Stark, Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life (OUP 2007) which pioneered the idea of coercive control as a constant cycle of emotional abuse.


[2] Data provided by the Official National Police Chief’s Council. Please see National Police Chief’s Council, ‘Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides 2022-2023 Report’ at https://www.vkpp.org.uk/vkpp-work/domestic-homicide-project


[3] ibid. 

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