KILLER STUDENT33 JAILED FOR LIFE
Drunk woman hit fiance with car
A PHILOSOPHY student who ran over and killed her fiance has been jailed for life.
Alice Wood, 24, drove for more than 500ft with Ryan Watson, 24, stuck underneath her car. She was twice the legal drink-drive limit at the time.
Mr Watson was pronounced dead at the scene in 2022.
A court heard the pair had been to a birthday party for one of his colleagues when Wood became jealous after her fiance chatted to another woman.
After she drove back to the home they shared, witnesses saw Wood edging her car towards Mr Watson in a “game of chicken”. The jury heard that Wood bumped him twice before running him down. Staff in a nearby takeaway said they heard a scream as Mr Watson vanished beneath the vehicle. Prosecuting, Andrew Ford KC said Wood lost her temper and used the car as a weapon. Wood had denied murder, saying the death of Mr Watson had been a tragic accident. But after a jury at Chester crown court in Cheshire found her guilty last month, she was yesterday sentenced to life with a minimum of 18 years.
On her arrest after the murder in Rode Heath, Cheshire, Wood told police officers: “It’s fine, I deserve it. You should just shoot me in the head”. She admitted drinking two glasses of wine, two rums and a glass of champagne.
In a statement, Mr Watson’s family said that it had been hard having to repeatedly watch CCTV footage of the moment he was killed in court.
They said: “The one person Ryan trusted the most is the person who took his life in such a violent way. 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 will never get to live his life and fulfil his dreams.”
The court heard Mr Watson was a support worker for a charity called Headway, which supports people with brain injuries in North Staffordshire.
The couple started dating in 2020 and got engaged six months later. They moved in together during the Covid lockdown.
Wood was studying philosophy at Manchester University.
Judge Michael Leeming told Wood: “Prison may be hard for you, but you only have yourself to blame for the situation you now find yourself in.”
The person he trusted the most is the person who took his life
RYAN WATSON’S FAMILY IN STATEMENT TO COURT