New lover of a controlling 'monster' who abused his fiancée admits 'coaching' him to 'say sorry' when he went on trial for her manslaughter

By JAMES TOZER, NORTHERN CORRESPONDENT Published: 18:19, 11 May 2026 | Updated: 18:22, 11 May 2026 The new lover of a controlling ‘monster’ who abused his fiancée before she took her own life has admitted 'coaching' him to ‘say sorry’ and ‘show emotion’ while he was standing trial for her manslaughter. Ryan Wellings, 32, was jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2025 after he was convicted of subjecting new mother Kiena Dawes, 23, to years of sickening domestic abuse and brutal violence. The hairdresser wrote in her suicide note that she was 'murdered', adding: 'Ryan Wellings killed me... He ruined every bit of strength I had left. ‘I didn't deserve it. I didn't ask for it.' It was the first time a domestic abuser had faced trial accused of driving his victim to take their own life. In a final insult to Ms Dawes and her family, the unrepentant abuser blew a kiss to his new girlfriend, Emma Croft, now 29, as he was acquitted of manslaughter. But the mother-of-two was later arrested along with Wellings and his mother, Lisa Green, on suspicion of perverting the course of justice for allegedly ‘coaching’ him while he was giving evidence. All three have now admitted committing contempt of court, with suspended prison sentences imposed on Croft and Green. Pictured: Ryan Wellings with his new partner, Emma Croft, who has now admitted 'coaching' him while he was giving evidence in his trial for the manslaughter of ex-fiancee Kiena Dawes Ms Dawes (pictured) took her own life on July 22 2022 and wrote in her suicide note that she was 'murdered'  Ryan Wellings (pictured) was arrested while serving a sentence for abusing his fiancée Kiena Dawes before she took her own life Separately, Green and Wellings’ father Michael admitted kidnapping their own granddaughter weeks after Kiena’s death. Landscape gardener Wellings was held in custody ahead of his trial at Preston Crown Court after sending Kiena's mother a callous video demanding that she ‘take the blame for abandoning your daughter’. During the trial, he was twice warned by Judge Robert Altham not to speak to anyone about the case while he was giving evidence, with his new girlfriend listening on. But in a call to the jail where he was being held on the evening of December 17, 2024, while he was in the midst of four days in the witness box, Croft told him she had ‘Some advice to listen so take it in.’ She advised him that he should ‘say how sorry you was and how you regret some of your actions’. The following day, Wellings told the court he was ‘embarrassed, a bit ashamed and very sorry’ about one incident when he was violent towards Kiena. In the same call she told him to think about ‘If there’s an opportunity to get how good the relationship was’. In his evidence on December 18, Wellings said: ‘The good obviously counteracted the bad. We had more good time than bad times.’ Croft, 29, pictured alongside Wellings, agreed to 'step down' from her job at a beauty salon in Blackpool in the wake of the trial 'Bright and popular' hairdresser Kiena (pictured) was 'ground down' by two-and-a-half years of domestic violence Also on December 17 she advised him ‘you can show emotion’ and ‘if you do feel like you’re gonna cry then let it out’. Two days later he wept in the witness box as he told of hearing about Kiena’s death. She also advised him not to use the word ‘push’ in relation to his conduct towards a previous girlfriend whom he had attacked as ‘It sounds worse than what it is’. In a further call involving Green on December 18, the trio discussed how he needed to mention that Kiena had used violence against him. The following day Wellings told jurors she ‘used to attack me and I used to restrain her by grabbing her arms’. And on December 19, Croft asked Wellings if he had told the jury ‘about her being on your Facebook… before she killed herself’. He replied: ‘I haven’t yet, babe, I will do though.’ On January 2, 2025, after the case adjourned over Christmas, he told the court: ‘I noticed Kiena has logged onto my Facebook half an hour before she took her own life. Kiena Dawes (pictured), 23, went missing from her home in Fleetwood, Lancashire, on July 22, 2022, before taking her own life ‘She was watching what I was doing.’ In a further call that morning she reminded him: ‘Don’t forget to keep mentioning self-defence. Get it in there.’ Later that day the judge was told that the calls had been recorded, and he banned Croft and Green from attending the rest of the trial. Wellings was ultimately convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour - but cleared of manslaughter. The Daily Mail later revealed how Wellings had proposed to Croft in a letter he left with his mother before the jury's verdict. Following the trial, Ms Croft agreed to 'step down' from her job at a beauty salon in Blackpool after the owner found the controversy surrounding her alleged involvement in the case was harming business. But she stunned friends by telling them she will 'stick by' Wellings and has accepted his 'proposal', vowing to wait for him until his release. One former friend of Ms Croft's said that she was 'completely in thrall' to Wellings and 'in denial' about the nature of his personality. At a sentencing hearing on May 8, Adam Birkby, prosecuting, said their intention was to 'influence and thereby improve' both the content and manner of Wellings' evidence. 'This was in flagrant breach of the clear order of the court,' he said. Mr Birkby said 'witness coaching' was an 'egregious contravention of a fundamental principle of criminal proceedings'. Details of the kidnap plot involving the granddaughter of Wellings’ parents can now also be revealed. On August 19, 2022 – less than a month after Kiena’s death – her grandmother was pushing a child in a pram when she was approached by Wellings’ father, Michael. He forcibly removed her hands from the handle of the pushchair, before unclipping the child from her pushchair, picking her up and running off towards a blue car. Lisa Green was standing next to the open car door shouting: ‘Get her.’ She then rang 999, saying she had felt compelled to 'snatch her back' as as the Dawes family had refused to return her, and her son Ryan had parental responsibility. The child – who cannot be identified for legal reasons - was located a short time later and Green and Wellings were arrested, later admitting kidnapping her. Sentencing them, Judge Altham said the coaching had represented 'a serious interference with the fairness and integrity of the trial process', the BBC reported. But he said it could not be concluded that the 'ultimate outcome' of the trial was affected. In relation to the kidnapping, he told Green and Wellings: 'You didn't think of your granddaughter, you thought only of yourselves.' Ryan Wellings was jailed for a further seven months. Green, 53, of Bispham, Lancashire, was given a 15-month custodial sentence, suspended for 20 months, along with a curfew and rehabilitation activity. Michael Wellings, 51, also of Bispham, was given a nine-month custodial sentence, suspended for 20 months, along with a curfew and rehabilitation activity. Croft, of Poulton-le-Fylde, was given a six-month custodial sentence, suspended for 20 months. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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