02 January 2024 , 13:10
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Shocking footage of a woman ploughing into her fiance before dragging his body more than 150m along the road, has been released after she was found guilty of his murder.
Alice Wood had been caught on CCTV laughing and joking with 24-year-old Ryan Watson earlier in the evening as they attended a birthday party together, but the night took a sinister turn as they headed home together and got into a row. After she rammed into him Wood rushed to a neighbour's house and begged them: "Please phone an ambulance. I think I’ve ran over my boyfriend."
The jury in her murder trial, who found her guilty this morning, was told by prosecutor Andrew Ford KC: “Ryan Watson was caught on camera having a good time, being a gregarious and outgoing party guest, having fun and dancing. Whilst deeply serious and tragic, we say this is a simple case. She lost her temper, had an argument with her boyfriend when they were in drink (sic), in a motorcar. Things became fraught, he got out, kicked a door, and she lost her cool and used the car as a weapon.”
Wood denied murder and an alternative count of manslaughter as she claimed her Mr Watson's death was a “tragic accident”. She told her trial at Chester Crown Court she did not realise he was trapped underneath her car when she drove 158 metres before stopping.
Alice Wood was convicted of murder (PA)
She ran over Ryan Watson (Facebook)Wood showed no emotion as the jury returned its unanimous verdict after less than eight hours of deliberation. Judge Michael Leeming further remanded her in custody and told her she “may never be released”. She will be sentenced on January 29.
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He said: “You have been convicted of the murder of Ryan Watson. There is only one sentence that the law allows and that is life imprisonment. I am required to consider the minimum term you must serve in custody before the Parole Board deems it safe for you to be released. You may never be released. It is a matter entirely for the Parole Board.”
The three-week murder trial heard the couple, who began a relationship in March 2020 and became engaged six months later, had spent the evening at a party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, with staff and service users of the brain injury charity Headway, where Mr Watson was a support worker.
Ryan partying with Alice earlier in the evening (Cheshire Police)Fellow party guest Tiffany Ferriday told the court she and Mr Watson had “clicked” and Wood was “pretty much left out” of conversation. But Wood told the court when she drove Mr Watson home from the party in his car, despite knowing she was over the drink drive limit, he “flipped” and accused her of flirting with other men.
The philosophy student described an argument which continued when they returned to the house they owned and led to Mr Watson grabbing her by her hair extensions and holding her head over the oven hob. She said she went out to her car to leave but Mr Watson followed and they continued to argue as he stood outside the car.
She drove her car at him (Cheshire Police)CCTV showed her reverse the vehicle, hitting Mr Watson’s car, a bin and a bollard. The car could be seen in the footage reversing into the road as Mr Watson walked away, but then swerved off the road towards him. Wood told the court she had intended to “scare” Mr Watson because he had threatened her mother but planned to stop short of him and was “shocked” when she saw him on the bonnet of the car.
The CCTV showed the car reverse and then move forward, hitting Mr Watson a second time and knocking him underneath the car before driving away. The court heard Wood was preparing for final exams in a theology, philosophy and ethics degree at the time and had since been awarded the degree based on the material she had already produced.
She was found guilty by a jury (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)She had a scholarship for a part-time research masters at Cambridge, the jury was told. On the first day of the trial, she had a copy of the book Meditations, a philosophy text by Roman Marcus Aurelius, under her arm as she was led in handcuffs from the prison van to the court.
In tears during much of her evidence, Wood said she had stopped the car and got out after travelling a short distance down the road because she felt it was not accelerating properly.
She said: “It was like stepping into a nightmare because I could see Ryan underneath the car. It was like I was in hell, It didn’t seem real.” The court heard she then knocked on the door of a nearby house and told residents: “Please phone an ambulance. I think I’ve ran over my boyfriend.” When police arrived and Wood taken into custody after being arrested on suspicion of murder, she told an officer: “It’s fine, I deserve it.”
Ryan was just 24 (PA)
He died being dragged underneath the car (PA)In a statement, Mr Watson’s family said it had been “so hard” to repeatedly watch the CCTV footage shown in court of the moment he was killed while trapped under the car. They said: “The one person Ryan trusted the most is the person who took his life in such a violent way. Alice is in prison where she belongs but no sentence is going to be long enough for what she has taken from us and Ryan. He’ll never get to live his life and fulfil his dreams.”
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The added: “Today we finally got justice for our beloved son Ryan. Ryan’s death has left our family heartbroken. He was taken from us far too soon. He was just a young man, 24 years old, with his whole life ahead of him. He had just started his career working for the charity Headway and helping other people, which is what he loved to do.
“He will be forever missed. All his family and friends are heartbroken to know we never get to see him again. Words cannot express how devastated and lost we are without Ryan. He touched the hearts and enriched the lives of everyone who knew him."
Detective Inspector Nigel Parr, of Cheshire Constabulary, said: “The night Ryan died, Wood used her vehicle as a weapon while under the influence of alcohol – deliberately driving at him and even continuing to drive after knocking him down.
“She knew what she had done but since then has refused to take accountability for her actions. Thankfully, as a result of our investigation and the evidence against her, she has been found guilty of Ryan’s murder.”
David Jones, senior crown prosecutor at CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: “This was a tragic loss of life of a young man with his whole life ahead of him. Under the influence of alcohol, it was clear that Alice Wood’s jealousy was ammunition enough for her to brutally kill her partner.”