Clive Grunshaw calls for tougher laws on domestic abuse after Fleetwood hairdresser Kiena Dawes' death
Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw has taken his campaign to toughen the law on domestic abuse and suicide following the death of 23‑year‑old Kiena Dawes on a railway line in the county to a government minister.
He gave details of the meeting he and his chief executive Dr Anna Hopkins held with Victims Minister at the Department of Justice to a meeting of councillors at Blackburn Town Hall on Monday.
Mr Grunshaw has been campaigning for a legal change following Kiena Dawes being found dead on the railway line close to Barnacre, near Garstang, by British Transport Police officers on July 22, 2022.
The Fleetwood hairdresser had been reported missing a short time earlier having left her young daughter with a friend, along with her mobile phone.
In January last year her boyfriend Ryan Wellings, 30, was cleared of her manslaughter but found guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour and assault.
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Mr Grunshaw has called for urgent changes to the law concerning suicides linked to domestic abuse and said there is an urgent need for stronger legislation to address cases involving prolonged coercive and controlling behaviour.
He hosted a major conference last year which brought together policing, criminal justice, health, and academic partners to explore the legal and investigative challenges associated with domestic abuse‑related suicides.
Mr Grunshaw told Monday’s meeting of the Lancashire Police and Crime Panel which oversees his work: “I and the Chief Executive travelled to London in December 2025, to meet with Minister Alex Davies-Jones MP to discuss proposed changes to the law around domestic abuse and suicide, as part of Lancashire’s ongoing campaign.
“We were accompanied by Paul Greaney KC, who prosecuted the case against Ryan Wellings, whose ex-partner Kiena Dawes committed suicide after domestic abuse at his hands, and Frank Mullane, CEO of Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA).
“The meeting looked at An amendment to the Serious Crime Act 2015 to allow the imposition of Extended Determinate Sentence (EDS) where appropriate; and Whether there is scope to take this further and craft a new law to assist juries to recognise the causative relationship between domestic abuse and suicide and attracting a similar sentence to the offence of manslaughter.”
Following the meeting, Minister Davies-Jones agreed to raise the issues highlighted as a result of Kiena’s case with the Solicitor General, Lady Chief Justice, the Director of Public Prosecutions and Sentencing Minister Jake Richards MP.