Alice Wood jailed for running over and killing Ryan Watson

A woman who drove at her fiance before dragging him more than 150m along a road has been jailed for a minimum of 18 years for his murder.

Alice Wood and her partner Ryan Watson had been arguing after a party in May 2022, but she claimed his death was a "tragic accident".

Wood, 24, was found guilty last month at Chester Crown Court, where she was sentenced to life on Friday.

Jurors heard she drove at Mr Watson three times before he was killed.

Sentencing her, Judge Michael Leeming said: "Prison may be hard for you, Alice Wood, but you only have yourself to blame for the situation you now find yourself in."

The couple had attended the party with staff and service users of brain injury charity Headway, where 24-year-old Mr Watson was a support worker.

But jurors heard he "clicked" with another woman at the party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, angering Wood.

Andrew Ford KC, prosecuting, said Mr Watson was seen on CCTV footage "having a good time, being a gregarious and outgoing party guest" while Wood was described by one woman attending as "a bit cold".

Tiffany Ferriday, a guest at the gathering, said she and Mr Watson had "clicked" and Wood was "pretty much left out" of conversation.

Wood, who was due to sit exams in theology, philosophy and ethics and had a scholarship for a part-time research masters at Cambridge, had accused him of flirting with her.

Tension had also been building between the pair - who had both been drinking alcohol - in an argument over who was driving home.

Wood told the court that when she drove Mr Watson home in his car, he "flipped" and accused her of flirting with other men.

At their home in Oak Street, Rode Heath, she got into her car as Mr Watson walked around the vehicle.

Neighbours reporting hearing shouting, doors slamming, and a car engine revving, jurors heard.

Wood then "used her car as a weapon", reversing towards Mr Watson, narrowly missing him, before, seconds later, driving at him again, knocking him onto her car's bonnet.

She drove at him for a third time, this time dragging him underneath the vehicle.

After driving 158m along the road, Wood then stopped and asked a nearby resident "please phone an ambulance, I think I've run over my boyfriend".

Paramedics confirmed Mr Watson had died, with the cause confirmed as crush asphyxiation, the Crown Prosecution (CPS) said.

The court heard Wood wrote a letter to the judge saying she accepted sole responsibility but continued to deny murder, maintaining she used her car only as a weapon for intimidation.

Gudrun Young KC, defending, said the couple appeared to be very much in love and had not long bought the house together and had talked about starting a family.

Wood did not intend to kill Mr Watson and her expressions of remorse at the scene and since were genuine, she added.

"The reality is that she has lost the man she loved and will have to live the rest of her life with the knowledge that it was at her hand," she said.

Judge Leeming told her he was sure there was intent on her behalf to kill Mr Watson.

"In the heat of the moment and having failed to injure him in the first strike, this time you made no mistake. I am sure that there was an intent to kill."

He said he did not accept Wood was provoked by Mr Watson or in fear of violence from him that night.

"Ryan Watson was vulnerable. He was a pedestrian, he was holding his mobile phone, he was standing on the pavement, he had been drinking.

"There was nothing he could do to avoid the fatal act.

"To my mind you have shown no true remorse for Ryan's murder."

David Jones, a senior CPS prosecutor, said it was "a tragic loss of life" of a young man with his whole life ahead of him.

"Though it will never make up for their devastating loss, I hope today's conviction brings Ryan's family some solace, knowing his murderer has been brought to justice," he said.

Mr Watson's mother, Lisa Watson, read her victim personal statement read from the witness box in which she said "my world stopped" from the moment she got a knock on her door to say her son had been killed.

She said Wood's actions "showed how little she cared for Ryan".

"My family had been destroyed in an instance and it hurt even more hearing who had killed him," she said.

"The one person Ryan trusted the most is the person who took his life in such a violent way."

Wood wiped away tears as Mr Watson's younger brother, Owen, told the court: "Now Ryan has gone the happiness has turned into darkness.

"Without him I will never be the same again. I have lost my best friend, the happy place in my heart."

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