Alice Wood told she will find prison ‘hard’ as she is jailed for life for fiancé’s murder
A theology student who murdered her boyfriend by mowing him down in her car following a row at a party has been told by a judge that she will find prison “hard” as she was jailed for life.
Alice Wood, 24, used her Ford Fiesta as a weapon to run over and kill her fiance, Ryan Watson, after accusing him of flirting with another woman.
Mr Watson, 24, a support worker at the brain injury charity Headway, was dragged more than 500 feet underneath the car and died as a result of his injuries.
Wood, who was in her final year of a philosophy, ethics and theology degree at Manchester University, had claimed it was an accident, but following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court, she was found guilty of murder.
Jailing her for life, a judge told Wood she would have to serve a minimum of 18 years before she would be eligible to apply for parole.
Judge Michael Leeming told the defendant, who had been planning to complete a postgraduate degree at Cambridge University: “Prison may be hard for you, Alice Wood, but you only have yourself to blame for the situation you now find yourself in.”
Following the sentencing, Det Ins Nigel Parr 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 she refused to take accountability for her actions, forcing Ryan’s family to sit through a trial and watch footage of his final moments.
“Throughout the trial Wood proclaimed her innocence, but thankfully the jury saw through her lies, and she was found guilty of Ryan’s murder.
“While nothing is going to bring Ryan back, I hope the sentence handed to Wood will bring some sense of closure for his family, knowing that justice has been served.
“Our thoughts remain with Ryan’s family and friends at this time.”
In a statement, Ryan’s family said: “We are very grateful today for the sentence handed to Alice by His Honour Judge Leeming for the murder of our son Ryan.
“It gives us some comfort to know that she is where she belongs. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bring Ryan home to us. He will be forever missed by all our family and his friends.
“He was the light of our lives. It’s such a tragedy what happened to him, his life was cut short. We thank everyone involved who have helped to achieve justice for Ryan.”
Wood claimed her partner died in a “tragic accident” when he was hit by the Ford Fiesta she was driving near their home in Rode Heath, Cheshire, at about 11.30pm on May 6 2022.
But the jury rejected her account last month and unanimously found her guilty of murder.
The trial heard the couple had spent the evening at a party in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, with staff and service users of Headway.
Andrew Ford KC, prosecuting, said that 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 party guest, told the court that she and Mr Watson had “clicked” and Wood was “pretty much left out” of conversation.
But Wood told the court that 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 student described an argument which continued when they returned to the house they owned in Oak Street.
She told the court she went out to her car to leave but Mr Watson followed.
During his opening address, Mr Ford said “she lost her temper” and “used the car as a weapon”.
CCTV footage showed Wood reversing her Fiesta aggressively in Mr Watson’s direction and then, on the defendant’s own admission, she deliberately drove at him.
Mr Watson was thrown onto the bonnet of the vehicle as the back of his head hit the windscreen before he slid off and landed on his feet.
The judge did not accept Wood’s explanation that she only intended to “scare” her fiance at that point.
He told her: “You accelerated towards him, giving him no chance to move away. Your intention was then to cause him some harm.”
The fatal impact came when Wood drove at Mr Watson again as he fell under the chassis of her vehicle and was dragged for a period of 21 seconds, the court heard.
The judge said: “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.”
Judge Leeming continued: “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.”
In her victim impact statement read from the witness box, Mr Watson’s mother, Lisa, said that her “world stopped” from the moment she got a knock on her door to say her son had been killed.
She said: “My family had been destroyed in an instance and it hurt even more hearing who had killed him.
“The one person Ryan trusted the most is the person who took his life in such a violent way.
“She has tarnished all the memories we now have over the last few years.
“We took Alice into our family and her actions have showed how little she cared for Ryan.”
Judge Leeming said it would be for the Parole Board to consider when, and if, it would be safe to release her from custody.
