Alice Wood: ‘Jealous’ woman who ran over fiance after birthday party row found guilty of murder
A “jealous” woman who ran over her fiance after an argument following a party has been found guilty of murder.
Prosecutors said Manchester University philosophy student Alice Wood, 23, used her Ford Fiesta as a weapon against partner Ryan Watson, 24, near the home they shared in Rode Heath, Cheshire, at about 11.30pm on 6 May 2022.
Chester Crown Court heard she “lost her temper” in an argument after the couple had been at a birthday party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, for a user of the Headway brain injury charity, where Mr Watson was a support worker.
The court heard the pair argued over who was driving home and Wood accused Mr Watson of flirting with a woman.
Alice Wood and Ryan Watson argued following a birthday party
Wood denied murder and manslaughter, claiming it was a “tragic accident” and she did not realise Mr Watson was trapped under her car when she drove 158m before stopping.
A jury found her guilty of murder and Judge Michael Leeming remanded her in custody ahead of sentencing on 29 January, warning she “may never be released”.
David Jones, senior Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor, 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.”
Wood and Mr Watson got engaged in September 2020 and bought a house together in October 2021.
The court was shown CCTV footage of the moment Mr Watson was hit by the car, which reversed before hitting Mr Watson’s car, a bin and a bollard.
Alice Wood ran over fiance Ryan Watson
Ryan Watson was hit by Wood’s Ford Fiesta
The car is seen reversing into Sandbach Road as Mr Watson walks away before swerving off the road towards him, appearing to knock him on to the bonnet.
Mr Watson was able to stand but prosecutor Andrew Ford KC told Wood’s trial she drove straight into him for a second time “head on”.
“This time he did not go over the bonnet – she knocked him clean over, under the vehicle’s front end,” he said.
Giving evidence through tears, Wood said she stopped the car and got out after a short distance because she felt it was not accelerating properly.
“It was like stepping into a nightmare because I could see Ryan underneath the car,” she said.
“It was like I was in hell. It didn’t seem real.”
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 she was arrested, Wood told officers: “It’s fine, I deserve it.”
When arrested, Wood told police: ‘I deserve it’
Wood, who said she had been awarded a scholarship for a research masters and had been studying for her final exams in theology, philosophy, and ethics, was found to have 61 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, compared with the legal limit of 35, the court heard.
She said she had drunk two glasses of white wine, two rums and a glass of champagne.
Mr Watson’s family left ‘heartbroken’
‘He will be forever missed’
Mr Watson’s family said in a statement after the verdict that his death has left them “heartbroken” and he was taken from them “far too soon”.
“Ryan had such a big personality; he was a bubbly, fun-loving, caring person with a heart of gold who would do anything for anyone,” they said.
“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.”
Mr Watson’s family said they were grateful to get justice but that the CCTV footage played repeatedly during the trial was “hard to watch”.
“I can’t imagine how scared Ryan must have been at that moment,” the statement said.
“The one person Ryan trusted the most is the person who took his life in such a violent way. I am living in a nightmare knowing my son’s last moments were so brutal.”
They added: “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.”
Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage might be polar opposites when it comes to politics – but they do have one thing in common.
The pair are both cutting through in a changing media landscape when attention is scarce and trust in mainstream politics is scarcer still.
For Farage, the Reform UK leader, momentum has been building since he won a seat at the general election last year and he continues to top the polls.
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Badenoch doesn’t want to talk about Farage
But in the six weeks since Polanski became leader of the Greens, membership has doubled, they’ve polled higher than ever before while three Labour councillors have defected. Has the insurgent firebrand finally met his match?
“I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but I despise Nigel Farage’s politics and disagree with him on almost everything,” Polanski tells Sky News.
“But I think his storytelling has undoubtedly cut through and so yes there has been a huge part of us saying ‘If Farage can do that with a politics of hate and division, then it’s time for the Green Party to do that with a politics of hope and community’ and that’s absolutely what I intend to keep doing.”
Polanski was speaking after a news conference to announce the defections of the councillors in Swindon – a bellwether area that is currently led by a Labour council and has two Labour MPs, but was previously controlled by the Tories.
It is the sort of story the party would previously have announced in a press release, but the self-described “eco populist” is determined to do things differently to grab attention.
He has done media interviews daily over the past few weeks, launched his own podcast and turbocharged the Greens social media content – producing slick viral videos such as his visit to Handsworth (the Birmingham neighbourhood where Robert Jenrick claimed he saw no white people).
Zack Polanski announces the defection of Labour councillors
Polanski insists that it is not increased exposure in and of itself that is attracting people to his party but his messaging – he wants to “make hope normal again”.
“I’m not going to be in a wetsuit or be parachuting from a helicopter”, he says in a swipe at Lib Dem leader Ed Davey.
“I think you only need to do stunts if you don’t have something really clear to say and then you need to grab attention.
“I think when you look at the challenges facing this country right now if you talk about taxing wealth and not work, if you talk about the mass inequality in our society and you talk about your solidarity with people living in poverty, with working-class communities, I think these are the things that people both want to hear, but also they want to know our solutions. The good news is I’ve got loads of solutions and the party has loads of solutions. “
Some of those solutions have come under criticism – Reform UK have attacked his policy to legalise drugs and abolish private landlords.
Discontent is fuelling the rise of challenger parties. Pic: PA
Polanski is confident he can win the fight. He says it helps that he talks “quite quickly because it means that I’m able to be bold but also have nuance”. And he is a London Assembly member not an MP, so he has time to be the party’s cheerleader rather than being bogged down with case work.
As for what’s next, the 42-year-old has alluded to conversations with Labour MPs about defections. He has not revealed who they are but today gave an idea of who he would welcome – naming Starmer critic Richard Burgon.
Like Burgon, Polanski believes Starmer “will be gone by May” and that the local elections for Labour “will be disastrous”.
He wants to replace Labour “right across England and Wales” when voters go to the polls, something Reform UK has also vowed to do.
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Is Zack Polanski squeezing the Labour vote?
Could the Greens be kingmakers?
Luke Tryl, director of More in Common, says this reflects a “new axis of competition” as frontline British politics shifts from a battle of left vs right to a battle of process vs anti-establishment.
Farage has been the beneficiary of this battle so far but Tryl says Polanski is “coming up in focus groups” in a way his predecessors didn’t. “He is cutting through”, the pollster says.
However, one big challenge Polanski faces is whether his rise will cause the left vote to fragment and make it easier for Farage to win – something he has said he wants to avoid at all costs.
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And yet, asked if he would form a coalition with Labour to keep Farage out of power in the event of a hung parliament, he suggested he would only do so if Sir Keir Starmer is no longer prime minister.
“I have issues with Keir Starmer as prime minister,” he says. “I think he had the trust of the public, but I would say that’s been broken over and over again. If we had a different Labour prime minister that would be a different conversation about where their values are.”
He adds: “I do think stopping Nigel Farage has to be a huge mission for any progressive in this country, but the biggest way we can stop Nigel Farage is by people joining the Green Party right now; creating a real alternative to this Labour government, where we say we don’t have to compromise on our values.
“If people wanted to vote for Nigel Farage, they’d vote for Nigel Farage. What does Keir Starmer think he’s doing by offering politics that are similar but watered down? That’s not going to appeal to anyone, and I think that’s why they’re sinking in the polls.”
A former paratrooper accused of murdering two civilians in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland 53 years ago has been found not guilty.
Soldier F – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – was accused of killing James Wray and William McKinney during disorder after a civil rights parade on 30 January 1972 in Londonderry, also known as Derry.
The veteran was also found not guilty of five attempted murders at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.
He had denied all seven charges.
Thirteen people were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment on the day in question.
Soldier F did not give evidence, but the court heard about previous statements from two paratroopers – known as G and H – who were in Glenfada Park North along with F.
The prosecution said their testimony was direct evidence that the defendant had opened fire in the area.
Bloody Sunday Trust undated handout photos of (top row, left to right) Patrick Doherty, Bernard McGuigan, John “Jackie” Duddy and Gerald Donaghey, (bottom row, left to right) Gerard McKinney, Jim Wray, William McKinney and John
However, the defence argued that they were unreliable witnesses as their statements were inconsistent with each other and with other witnesses who gave evidence.
The trial was held in Belfast in front of a judge, not a jury.
Delivering his judgment, Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the veteran fell well short of what was needed for conviction.
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Two people have died and five others were taken to hospital following a fire in Glasgow.
Emergency crews were called to the blaze at a property in Hughenden Lane in Hyndland at about 10.20pm on Monday.
Police Scotland said a man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene.
The force said their next of kin have been informed.
Five others were taken to hospital for the effects of smoke inhalation.
Read more from Sky News:
Paratrooper known as ‘Soldier F’ not guilty of Bloody Sunday murders
Three arrested on suspicion of assisting Russian spy agencies
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “The fire is not believed to be suspicious, and no criminality has been established.”
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