A WOMAN who used her car as a weapon to mow down and kill her fiancé in a “game of chicken” has been found guilty of murder.
Alice Wood, 23, deliberately drove her Ford Fiesta at Ryan Watson, 24, after they rowed following a party.
Andrew Price / View Finder PicturesAlice Wood has been found guilty of murder[/caption]
FacebookShe deliberately mowed down boyfriend Ryan Watson[/caption]
Ryan was knocked under the car on the third attempt and dragged for 158 metres as witnesses heard a “life-threatening” scream.
Wood then knocked on a door near where she stopped the vehicle and told the homeowner: “Please phone an ambulance. I think I’ve ran over my boyfriend.”
When she was arrested, she told an officer: “It’s fine, I deserve it”.
Wood has now been convicted of murder following a trial at Chester Crown Court.
Jurors heard the pair were at a party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, when the horror unfolded.
Ryan was seen “having a good time, being a gregarious and outgoing party guest, having fun and dancing”.
But by comparison, Wood was a “bit cold” as if she wasn’t “best pleased”.
One guest said she had “clicked” with Ryan during the May 6, 2022, bash but felt Wood “glaring” at her.
The couple left the party with Wood driving her boyfriend’s Fiat as they made their way home.
Once parked, she then got inside her own car where she reversed towards Ryan – almost hitting him, the court heard.
Wood then drove backwards and forwards as her boyfriend walked away.
Ryan was pulled under the front bumper and remained trapped under the car’s chassis for almost 160 metres.
Andrew Ford KC, prosecuting, said: “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 drunk, in a motorcar.
“Things became fraught, he got out, kicked a door, and she lost her cool and used the car as a weapon.”
The court heard Wood was found to have 61 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, compared to the legal limit of 35.
She claimed she had drunk two glasses of white wine, two rums and a glass of champagne.
During her evidence, Wood sobbed as she told how it was like “stepping into a nightmare” when she realised Ryan was under her car.
She added: “It was like I was in hell, It didn’t seem real.”
Wood told the court she was just trying to “scare” her boyfriend after they rowed and his attitude “flipped”.
She said: “Straight away he was accusing me of flirting with other men at the party and he started calling me a s**g, saying I’d embarrassed him and shown him up in front of everyone.”
Wood claimed he grabbed her by her extensions and threatened her when they returned to their home.
She then got in her car to leave but said they continued rowing while she sat was in the driver’s seat.
Wood told the jury: “I’d said for a final time ‘Ryan, just go inside, just go to bed and I’ll be back in the morning, I’m going to go to my mum’s’ and after that he said ‘your mum’s f***ing dead’.”
She was remanded into custody to be sentenced at a later date.
David Jones, Senior Crown Prosecutor in 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.
“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.”
FacebookWood wept as she gave evidence[/caption]
She told police ‘I deserve it’ when she was arrested
PAShe claimed she didn’t know Ryan was under the car[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
