A young Lancashire mother who took her own life after being assaulted and domestically abused kept a catalogue of evidence.

Kiena Dawes, 23, had written a suicide note saying, “Ryan Wellings killed me”, before leaving their nine-month-old daughter with a friend and taking her own life on a railway line on July 22, 2022.

Wellings, 30, had denied manslaughter but became the first defendant to be tried before a jury accused of the unlawful killing of his partner after her suicide following domestic violence.

Only one other defendant has been convicted in such circumstances before, Nicholas Allen, who admitted before his trial in 2017 the manslaughter of his partner, Justene Reece.

Ms Dawes’ suicide note, written on her phone, meant she had named and blamed her killer, “from beyond the grave”, Wellings’ trial heard.

But he was cleared of her manslaughter and convicted of assault and coercive and controlling behaviour towards Ms Dawes after a six-week trial at Preston Crown Court.