Alice Wood, a 23-year-old Manchester University philosophy student with a postgraduate place at Cambridge, has been convicted of murdering her boyfriend Ryan Watson, 24.
The couple, who began a relationship in March 2020 before getting engaged six months later, had started arguing at a birthday party in Stoke when Watson’clicked’ with a female guest at the party,
Other party guests said there appeared to be ‘friction’ between the couple and while Mr Watson had been enjoying himself and mingling with people Alice was a ‘bit cold’ and wasn’t ‘best pleased’ with his behaviour.
On getting home, Alice got into her own car and began revving the engine. CCTV footage from around 11.30pm shows Alice reversing the Ford Fiesta into her partner, nearly hitting him. She then drives at him head on, sending him flying onto the bonnet, before he is able to get back onto his feet.
In what shocked witnesses referred to as a ‘game of chicken’, Alice rams into him a third time, trapping him under the front bumper as she drives for 524ft along Sandbach Road in the village of Rode Heath before finally coming to a stop.
Alice- who was three times over the limit (drunk) – then got out of the car and knocked on a neighbour’s door before telling them: ‘Please phone an ambulance, I think I’ve run over my boyfriend’. Upon arrest a sobbing Alice told officers: ‘It’s fine, I deserve it’.
The young couple both grew up in nearby Cheadle, a quiet town on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands, where it is understood they met. Alice – who has two brothers – had lived alternatively with her mother Deborah Sproston, a doctor’s receptionist, and father Trevor Wood, a furniture maker, who are divorced.
CCTV footage caught the moment Alice Wood mowed down Ryan Watson in a ‘game of chicken’ having lost her temper after watching him ‘click’ with another woman
Alice drove at her partner twice in her Ford Fiesta before hitting him a third time and trapping him under the front bumper
Alice is seen being accompanied by a prison officer. She will be sentenced on January 29 2024
Judge Michael Leeming told Wood: ‘You have been convicted of the murder of Ryan Watson. There is only one sentence that the law allows and that is life imprisonment.
Shocking CCTV footage played showed Wood’s Fiesta swerving onto the pavement and hitting Mr Watson, sending him flying on to the bonnet.
He managed to get to his feet but seconds later he was struck a second time, causing him to fall under the car’s front bumper.
Mr Watson was heard screaming in the footage as he became trapped under the Fiesta’s chassis, with Wood driving for 158m before coming to a stop down the road.
After the collision, a ‘hysterical’ Alice had knocked on a neighbour’s door and told her: ‘Please telephone an ambulance, I think I have run over my boyfriend.’
When they went over to the Fiesta, where there was a pool of blood on the road and Mr Watson’s legs were sticking out from underneath the vehicle, Alice said: ‘Look what I’ve done.’
Alice also told police and paramedics she had run over Mr Watson, who died from crush asphyxiation injuries, but he had ‘jumped in front’ of her car.
Giving evidence, she claimed Mr Watson had ‘flipped’ after accusing her of ‘flirting’ with other men at the party.
She told the jury he’d called her a ‘s**g’ and a ‘whore’ and that she’d embarrassed him in front of other party guests.
The couple are seen drinking and enjoying themselves at a birthday party in Stoke
They leave the party Wood then drives them both home in Mr Watson’s car
After arriving home, Wood gets into her own car, a Ford Fiesta, and reverses towards Ryan – almost hitting him
She then drives into her fiancé a second time, knocking him onto the bonnet
Mr Watson gets up and walks away from the collision, but Wood deliberately drives at him a third time
Upon arrest a sobbing Alice told officers: ‘It’s fine, I deserve it’
Alice claimed she’d wanted to get away from Mr Watson and stay at her mum’s house that night to help defuse the row but couldn’t find her phone to arrange a lift from her dad and Mr Watson had refused to lend her his mobile.
She claimed Mr Watson had also threatened to have her mother killed and she’d only driven towards him initially to ‘scare’ and ‘intimidate’ him.
Alice denied ‘deliberately’ `and ‘intentionally’ driving at him and wanting to cause him harm.
She claimed not to have seen him and only realised something was wrong when she struggled to accelerate and manoeuvre the car.
Alice claimed the collision was a tragic accident but a jury at Chester Crown Court convicted her of murder
Alice and Mr Watson had only bought their home in the small Cheshire village of Rode Heath for £120,000 in October 2021 – seven months before Mr Watson’s death in May 2022.
Before she is understood to have gone away to university for her undergraduate degree, Alice had part-time jobs in a convenience store and as a waitress in a pub.
In recent years, she had managed to go travelling, with her Facebook account showing a picture of her posing with a small elephant in a jungle setting.
Mr Watson was described as a ‘bubbly, fun-loving, caring person with a heart of gold’
Alice Wood appeared destined to be a high achiever and was set to take a place on a postgraduate degree at Cambridge University, according to sources close to her family
One neighbor said: ‘She was quiet and studious. When she was older, she and her mother would go out to do the pub quiz together.
‘She seemed like she was destined for a good career – for her to be accused of murder is the last thing you’d expect to happen.’
Mr Watson, who worked for brain injury support charity Headway, was described by one resident in Rode Heath as ‘kind-hearted and helpful’.
One woman who lives in the village – and witnessed the aftermath of the ‘horrific’ killing after Wood came knocking for help – said: ‘Our landlord knew Ryan and said he was a lovely lad.
‘Everybody thought the world of him. He was kind-hearted and helpful… a really lovely boy. That’s what is so heart breaking.’
But the woman, a shop assistant, revealed that when Alice banged on her door seeking help on the night of the murder, she was already trying to provide her justification for what happened.
She recalled: ‘She told us she was upset because she wanted to go back to find her cell phone (and) he (Ryan) thought she was flirting with other men.
‘She never went back for her phone, so she didn’t have a phone on her.’
The resident said she let Alice borrow her phone to try to ring her mother but, in her panicked state, ‘couldn’t remember her mum’s phone number’.
Describing Alice’s demeanour, the woman added: ‘(she) was quite distressed, but she wasn’t crying..
‘She said: ‘Please phone for an ambulance . I’ve run over my boyfriend.’ I thought he would be lying by the side of the road in pain, so I went out.
‘He was completely underneath the vehicle, but his head was visible, and his foot was sticking out.
‘I tried to see if he was still conscious but there was no answer. It was quite horrific.
‘We called an ambulance, and they were here in 15 minutes . I was on the phone to them all that time.
‘I really feel for his family. We have two kids of our own …I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind.’
Another Rode Heath resident who went to help at the scene, said: ‘There were drag marks near the car. I’m still trying to figure out how it happened. I’ve never seen an incident like this.
‘The passenger door was open. The engine was cool. He was jammed under the car.
‘The girl didn’t want to see Ryan…the paramedics wanted her to go outside but she didn’t want to.
‘She was all over the place. She couldn’t walk. We had to support her. She was traumatised but couldn’t walk whether she was drunk or sober.
‘The police arrived shortly after and arrested her.’
Wood denied a charge of murder but was found guilty by a jury. She had also denied an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Following the sentencing, Detective Inspector Nigel Parr, of Cheshire Police said his thoughts remained with Ryan’s family following the outcome of the case.
He said: ‘While no conviction is going to bring Ryan back, I hope it will bring some sense of closure for his family, knowing that justice has been served.
‘The night Ryan died, Alice 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.
‘Our thoughts remain with Ryan’s family and friends as they continue to deal with the devastating events that took place.’
David Jones, Senior Crown Prosecutor in CPS Mersey-Cheshire, added: ‘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 her conviction brings Ryan’s family some solace, knowing his murderer has been brought to justice.’
Rest in peace Ryan